Instant Exposure
by ocesse
Summary: Imagine your soul being forcibly ripped from your afterlife. Now, imagine being reincarnated as a killer, in a psuedo-Japanese fascist state. The only tools of note are your senbon and your Genjutsu. Male!SI(ish)-OC takes over the body of Kin Tsuchi, explores themes of gender dysphoria, and graphic content.
1. 00 - Arbitratry

I do not own any intellectual property previously used by any other party. Rated M for gore, gender dysphoria, and other trigger warning to be updated.

-xxx-

Prologue

"...Otokage-sama I'm afraid."

He answers me in the same way he has for the last hour: a small smile and a chuckle. I'm afraid of what these seals will do to me. He had said that I would be obtaining a "special advantage" much like my teammates, but it won't be a physical attachment. I am not strapped to anything or glued down. A spiritual force holds me to the center of this circle.

I am afraid.

-xxx-

"Most of her vitals are normal Orochimaru-sama. But her brain activity is erratic. She randomly swings between high activity REM and delta-waves, her brain chemistry is indecipherable... overall it is to be expected... You most likely successfully implanted soul attachments."

A snake wearing human clothes bends down to stroke a single lock of the girl's hair between two fingers. Paper flesh contrasted against silky coal. His subordinate told him exactly what he was hoping for. It was a mild curiosity at first, Chakra being of physical and spiritual forces in tandem. What would that mean if the spirit is changed? Normally he would throw her into a cell and observe her atrophy... but...

"Return her to her home. I plan on studying how this develops organically."

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama."


	2. 01 - Biohazard

The actual reality of my situation took mere moments to hit me. Though at first, I was only mildly surprised at waking up in a room that I didn't recognize as my own.

'Must have gotten lucky.'

And though it might seem shallow, the first thing I noticed was the length of my hair and my pale skin tone. Confusion overtook me; I flexed my fingers in front of my face. Then crushing despair. "I'm not... Who... am I?"

Eventually, I was able to piece together some rather disorienting ideas and memories and found that not all of them were my own. I rise with a start, backing into a wall. It seems my disembodied spirit has gone and hijacked some poor random girl's body. "How did this happen? Why am I a girl!?" I pound my fist into the wall next to my window. "No. I am a man." I am a man.

I stare at the faint cracks in the wall. "This is the weirdest fucking dream." I glance at my bloodied fist. The faint sting of a full force punch almost immediately puts down the theory of "weirdest dream ever"; it places it solidly into the camp of "random and vivid hallucinations."

Existential crises aside, my body felt strong, like, super strong. Dare I say, I am now stronger as a little girl. I had a lithe form that didn't skimp on flexibility. I found myself giggling while showing off my new physical prowess to myself. God, my voice was high. My voice didn't sound necessarily ear splitting nor shrill but it wasn't the low timbre of a bass that I was accustomed.

I sought out a mirror in my small apartment, of which only the very necessities were strewn about in organized piles. I found clothes, a brush, papers, some oddly shaped knives, needles that were longer and thicker than feasible for sewing... Ah, there it is.

I pulled the mirror out of the box set aside to the corner of the room, off to the side of the bed underneath the window. I braced myself. From what I learned, people who are transgender have a tendency to dissociate. I had to remember however I looked, however, I sounded: I am a man. Nothing essential changes except for a complete second chromosome. When I look at my face I balk.

A not... unpretty... face stares back at me. My coal eyes have a severe look to them. Ultra long calf-length stalk straight hair, dark and rough. My face is rounded to a slight point in my chin. I look to be pubescent. I feel my, er, chest area and give it a slight squeeze and want to vomit almost immediately. I know for a fact that many guys would kill to be in a girls body for a day but I was never interested in women. The fact that I am currently possessing the body of a young girl drives me to the bathroom. I swiftly empty my stomach of bile.

-xxx-

It's around four hours before I have the mental bearings to even consider leaving my apartment to gather information about where and who I am. This girl doesn't even have a school ID so fishing for information would have to be the only way to go. I dress myself into what seems to be slated as her everyday outfit, as it is the most numerous of her clothes. The outfit consists of an olive green vest that seems to double as a sort of sports bra, a grey camo skirt over grey camo pants, some weird toeless shoes, a camo print scarf that I decide would look best draped across my waist, and a weird cloth belt thing with an eighth-note on it that I just decide to tie around my neck as it wouldn't fit around my waist even without the scarf.

Ready to face a new life, I pray for something that I see or someone that I meet will jog the memories of Mystery Girl so that I can put on a convincing act. It seems to be that I don't have any family around, judging by the lack of pictures... or any other personal effects to speak of. So at least I can draw solace from the fact that I won't have to convince myself to love some strangers. As soon as I walk out the door I am assaulted by a weird mummy kid that holds my arms behind me in a sort of pin. Another boy with crazy hair ambles up and it takes a couple of repeating questions that I realize I understand the foreign language he is speaking... something Asian... Korean? Japanese?

"Where the fuck were you? Sensei was so pissed that you never showed up for our team meeting that he promised that we are going to get triple the amount of conditioning training tomorrow. What's your deal, hm?" He has a sneer on his face and it annoys me for some reason.

Despite my adult reasoning and emotional control I can't quash the irritation this stupid kid is beginning to infect me with. I spit right at his face. "Whatever, I threw up all this morning so it's not like I could have done a whole lot about it."

"Ah, now Kin we told you to always take a morning-after pill. Now you have to deal with an unwelcome guest." Mummy boy gets off me and snickers at me. I shoot him a glare, which makes him snicker more.

"Ugh, you guys are the worst. I feel better now, so what's going on?" My attempt at fishing feels flaccid and out of character but I need information.

First things first, I am apparently named Kin. Unknown age, unknown personality, unknown nationality... what do they mean by 'team meeting' or 'Sensei'? Normally kids this age would be in high school, right? Probably a sports team...

But there is something about these two that niggles the back of my mind, which is strange. Perhaps the latent and scattered memories of this 'Kin' girl are jumbling my thoughts more than I think. But something feels off about this whole situation. Well, besides possessing the body of a teenage girl.

Crazy hair is waving his hand in front of my face. "-eeeyy? Earth to Kin? Dosu, do you think you gave her a concussion or something? You didn't use your Melody Arm on her right? That'd be so fucked up."

He shrugs at Zaku's statement. "I don't know Zaku, she seems fine to me. Empty headed as usu-."

I can't hold back bristling at that. Apparently, this girl is impulsive with her words because I am finding tremendous difficulty from shooting back a response. "Yeah, whatever, you walking social disaster. At least I don't have the personality of a forgotten corpse." I flip around and cover my face with my hands. 'What the hell Kin. Who talks to their friends like this?'

Dosu snorts. "Not your best comeback. Next time don't blush like an academy student and I might actually be offended. Now come on, we have a mission to take care of."

"Uh. Sure. Lead the way." I stare at the ground as I follow them down the almost deserted street. I can see Zaku, I think, giving me strange looks as we continue on but he doesn't say anything. Thank the Lord.

-xxx-

"You know Kin. There are certain expectations for a Genin, even when you're unwell. Next time let your teammates know that you aren't even showing up to train." A man, who I guess is our 'Sensei', taps his foot in a gesture that conveys his displeasure. He snaps out "Got it?" at me after a few moments of silence.

"Yes, Sensei. Of course, Sensei, it won't happen again." Involuntarily I bow to him at a ninety-degree angle, which feels both off and correct to me. The feeling of being someone completely different disorients me. Though... I can barely keep my own name straight. I guess it's a good thing that these responses are so well drilled into this body.

He manages a sigh. "Well, it can't be helped. Anyway, you all have a D-rank mission today. You're to clean up lab 25 in sector 9. Remember to be careful with the equipment everyone." He tosses a scroll to mummy boy. Dosu.

Dosu slides open the scroll and gives a small hum of understanding. Zaku looks painfully bored. The feeling of being out of place overtakes me again. So I can't help myself from rubbing my right arm with my left hand. 'Just have to get through the day' I remind myself. 'Then I can spend all the time I need figuring out these weird feelings and memories.'

"Zaku, Kin. Let's go. We wasted enough of Sensei's time today." Dosu rolls the scroll up in a single impressive motion and stalks off. 'He looks a bit like a hunchback...'

-xxx-

"What the hell." I reflexively cover my mouth and nose from the scent, taste, of death, blood, feces, and bile. "This is disgusting."

Zaku gives me an amused look, as though this is an everyday occurrence. How fucked up. "Come on Kin, I know your feminine sensibilities are strong but this isn't any worse than the last few times. You're acting like this is our first D-rank again."

Dosu sighs a long suffering sigh. "Lay off of her, Zaku. Kin, start by scrubbing the operating tables. Zaku, you get the floors. I'll do the glassware. Kami-sama knows neither of you are careful enough to work with glass."

"Ugh, fine. You're a real sick fuck you know that?" I can't help but agree since there are rather large messes all over the place. He grabs a mop and bucket and wets his mop. He's diligent in starting his work.

I scan the room. 'Keep breathing through your mouth.' I spy a few rags and buckets in one corner and avoid the nastiest of the piles of (hopefully not human) biohazard. 'I ought to invest in a gas mask if she does this regularly.' I begin wetting the first of the tables with one of the rags, pushing the thick slimes into a corner of the table.

"How many more D-ranks do you think we gotta do Kin?" Zaku eyes me sidelong, his face pretty much blank.

"How would I know?" It's not like I'm working off much information here.

"Were you not the one who stayed behind the other day requesting a higher ranked mission?" Dosu is very relaxed while wiping down the glass in spite of the horrible, horrible little things in those tubes.

"Ah, I guess I did. Must have slipped my mind. Sorry." I turn back to my table and empty the slimy substance into an empty bucket. I begin to disinfect with bleach. "Going to need something stronger than bleach if we care about infection."

Dosu chortles at that comment. "Well, it is a good thing we don't care, right?"

"Hm." I'm non-committal in my answer. It's not really wise to put myself into strong opinions right away. I bend down to place the heavy bucket stuffed with "medical" waste on the floor; I see a hand sticking out underneath the table I'm cleaning. I instantly still. 'That seriously isn't a dead body, right?'

Morbid fascination wins out over confused fear. I lean over to touch the wrist of the arm. The arm shoots out and grabs my arm, wrenching it down roughly to the floor. I lose my balance and topple over to see a horrific sight.

The body is mangled and bleeding purple sludge from every orifice. The spine of the creature that was once human is arched so far out of place that it gives the appearance of a compound fracture. The other arm shoots out at an entirely unexpected angle and grabs my neck.

'This can't be right. I've only been here for a few hours. No. No!'

"Stop!! Get away! Die!" It shoves its foot into my mouth. On autopilot, I grab one of those knives that Kin seems to have far too many from my pocket bag. I drive it into the beast's face, stabbing over and over again. All the while I can't help from screaming, the stabbing isn't doing anything! If anything it seems to make the creature gleeful.

Something inside me breaks.

I give out a primal scream at the surety of death. I continue stabbing, ever more frantic. The monster starts to bulge out and purple oozes in greater and greater quantity. The beast gurgles and sputters unintelligible noises but I don't stop shrieking and stabbing. For a few more seconds, which felt like hours to my adrenaline addled brain, I stab relentlessly until the thing bulges to the point that it explodes. Guts shower the floor in a pattern like modern art. I curl into a ball and sob into myself.

"Kin! Kin!" Zaku apparently abandoned his work to hold me. I'm past the point of decorum at this point. I want to feel safe. I need to be safe.

"What was that?" Dosu appeared in near the same time that Zaku did and inspected the place of my battle. "What did you do to it?" His owlish look gives the impression of fright.

"I- I- I- screamed." At this point, I'm glad I'm alive. What is wrong with this place!?

Zaku looks to Dosu. Both were clearly at a loss of how to handle this situation. Kids shouldn't have to deal with this stuff. No one should have to witness these things. I start to rock myself.

"... Zaku, take Kin outside. Give her some fresh air. I'm sure we can finish this up in time."

Zaku nods minutely and places his arm under my shoulder, he was hefting me up. I can't help but follow along. I need more than fresh air, I need a Valium or something.

Outside the lab, Zaku helps me onto a bench. For a few moments, I stare at him while he stares back. He turns to go but I panic.

"Wait!" I catch his hand. "Please, just. For a minute or two. I don't want to be alone yet. Please." By the end of my pleadings, I'm whining. I don't care at this point. He turns his head around to look at me with pity in his eyes. He sits next to me far too casually.

"So what was that back there?" He thankfully isn't looking at me, instead staring straight up into the sky.

'The sky is the same shade of blue...'

"I don't know. I was scared, I tried to stab it to death. That didn't work so I was even more terrified. I screamed. I stabbed harder." I look down at myself for the first time. I grimace at being covered in that slimy purple mucus.

For around a minute we sit there. My heart rate still races faster than normal but it isn't at the level of "oh God I'm about to die" adrenaline.

"It was probably just a fluke anyway." I cast my glance towards the door of the lab. What goes on in there?

Zaku gets up and walks to the door. "Yeah, you're probably right." He disappears into the depths of fear without another word.

-xxx-

After completing the disgusting (terrifying) task we walk down the eerily familiar streets. Eventually, I spy my apartment block. "Well, thanks for having fun with me guys but I'm going to go take a shower. See you tomorrow Dosu, Zaku." I bow at a slight angle politely and turn on my heel. I can sense Dosu and Zaku exchange a look behind me.

"We'll pick you up tomorrow morning. We don't want you to flake out again." Zaku supplies. I don't bother with a response and wave back at them while I disappear out of their view up my apartment's stairs.

I open up my door and close it in almost the same motion. I crumple to the ground and pull up my knees to my chest. 'Why is this place so horrible?'

Obviously, I am in some nightmarish Nazi alternate universe where children are raised to clean up after mad scientists. But that doesn't explain much at all, really. I pick at my makeshift necklace-belt thing. They have the same symbol as well, Zaku and Dosu and Sensei. Some kind of uniform, perhaps? But there isn't really a dress code besides the similar colors our outfits consist of. Grey on grey and tan on grey aren't particularly fashionable.

"I need to write down my thoughts." It's a habit of mine, though a proven psychological method of organizing thoughts. I get up and begin my search for the desperately necessary paper and pen. I find some blank scrolls, a few brushes, and three inkwells so I huff. 'I can't use these to paint, let alone write.' Resigned, 'well perhaps I'll just use them to jot down the bullet points. I'll find something more suited to my tastes tomorrow or something.'

Firstly, what do I know about myself? I still.

"I'm dead aren't I?" In abject horror, I recall the most recent memories of my previous life.

Nothing out of the ordinary. I was fixing a toaster...

Electrocution. Damn it. Why did I have to have that stupid 'handyman' persona that I would flaunt to my friends and on a few dates (to varying degrees of success...). To be honest I was skilled at repairing the basic plumbing and cabinetry of my clueless compatriots. I thought that all I would need is an internet guide to toaster repair but of course, I obviously skipped the Most. Important. Step.

I grumble to myself. I jot down a single word, death. It's too painful to consider the circumstances of my previous existence. If this is Hell then I consider this punishment a mere slap on the wrist.

Secondly, what do I know about who I am now?

Female. Kin, surname unknown. The brush is awkward to maneuver and it splotches in random dribbles around the words, which ticks me off. Whatever. She seems to have a sort of janitorial job with three other teenagers, with a supervisor that goes by "Sensei". Janitor school? not that being a janitor is a bad job, but isn't it kind of a train for a day or two and then left to your own devices sort of deal? The other two seemed to imply daily meetings, what further training would a custodian need than "use this mop and this soap for this"?

I pause for a few moments. Considering what other concrete information about Janitor Girl I know. Needles and knives? Other than knowing I have them, nothing seems to spring to mind about them.

Dosu, surname unknown. I bullet a point below that name. Male, leadership role. I pause. Weird fashion taste. I fail to grasp the exact term I'd use to describe the distant respect and friendliness he showed me today, mixed with barbs. Close acquaintance, coworker I decide to box him into that role for now. I can always reevaluate later.

Zaku, surname unknown. I tap the end of the brush against my cheek. Male, prickly. As I look back to our interactions and his responses to me I decide to add suspicious. He clearly was wary of Kin's, er... my, sudden change in demeanor. Hopefully either I figure out how she acts quickly or I'll have to pin it on the nebulous excuse of "puberty" or "hormonal mood swings". That thought causes my lip to furrow into disgust. 'She's a person and I'm already thinking of how to steal her life away from her like I'm some alien.'

"But I am..." I drop the brush from my hand and it splotches oh so tastefully on the paper like a mini Rorschach. What was my near immediate reaction to stealing a girl's body from her? I did some gymnastics then vomited because I wasn't in a body I was comfortable in. Not really still comfortable in; but the existential crisis of being a body snatcher takes precedent here.

"Are you still alive in there, Kin?"

Nothingness greets my question.

"Mnph." I intelligently answer my own question. "I have to keep writing, I'm Kin for now. Maybe I'll be exorcised later, or maybe this is what Hell is supposed to be like."

I pick up my ink drooling brush.

Thirdly. With what I know, what do I want and how can I get there with what I have?

Gasmask. The brush almost writes of its own accord but I chuckle to myself. If I am expected to step into own of those rooms again, and judging by the reactions of everyone as though cleaning feces, blood, and bile as though it were mundane as doing the laundry; I probably would have to.

Find out everything.

That's a bit on the vague side. Bullet one, where am I? What country on Earth has this happening, and if not on 'Earth' per se, what is the sociopolitical situation. Who runs this place? The kind of person that rules over labs out of literal horror movies is not the kind of person I'd cross. Knowing who to please would be of paramount importance in keeping me alive, for the second time at least. Then a distant tingling hope blooms within my heart, though the words used to describe such a hope is tragic. How do I escape?

'Maybe I can jump reality and go back.'

Go all the way back; to before those fateful moments of blissful stupidity. Chalk it up to a particularly vivid and uncomfortable hallucination.

I stare at the messily filled page. I sigh. I put the brush back into its case and cap the bottle of ink. 'I don't think writing about it told me all that much. At least my thoughts are more ordered now.' I spy the sun outside my window. 'It should be around 8 o'clock.' I rise to my feet and consider my options, 'if I take a shower I'll just be confronted with what I am.'

Though I haven't eaten much more than rice today, I don't particularly feel like throwing up for hours again. I glance at the mirror discarded in the corner of the room near the chest.

'Let's not think about it for now.'

Instead, I opt to wash off the gunk in my hair in my kitchen sink. I scrub my thin arms and soft face until my skin feels raw. 'It'll be better than nothing.' Finally, I begin a ritual rote in both memory and body. I peel off my clothes and put on the beige sleeping shirt and loose black pants I "awoke" in. Settling in for sleep in the cot set up under the window; I drift soundlessly and thoughtlessly into sleep.

-xxx-

A/N: Don't expect this OC to actually know of Naruto. Hopefully this fanfic turns out well, it's my first one. Give me constructive feedback please... though just reading up to this point me makes happy, so thanks!


	3. 02 - Gravity

"Kin! You better be dressed and ready!" The grating voice of the taller, crazy haired boy pounds at my door. I startle and find myself in an uncomfortable heap on the floor.

"It's so early!" I will admit that whine was all me and not Kin. I glance behind me and see only the barest of light on the horizon.

"Yeah, duh. I don't care, and neither should you. Get out here now! Like, five minutes ago now!" All throughout my rapid and haphazard morning routine the banging gets more frenzied. Sometimes the banging is punctuated with intermittent shouting of expletives.

I rush out the door and prepare to give the little mongrel a verbal thrashing. Instead, I am instead greeted with a punch to my jaw. I fall gracelessly to the floor and wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of a hand. "You could have chipped a tooth. Zaku." The name didn't come through the haze of cobwebs and disjointed memories right away. But it would be important to use names to acclimate myself easier.

The mummy boy presents to me a stopwatch. "Well, it's a new record for laziest ninja ever. 22 minutes." I pick myself up off the floor and sneer at these rude brats.

"I'll have you know I had a very stressful day yesterday so butt out. You-!"

"Yeah, whatever, drama queen throws up once, gets chewed out by Sensei, and can't handle a D-rank. Some day."

"We don't have time for this. We're already late for punishment for Kin's negligence as it is. If we make it any worse we'll be the next D-rank."

What. The horror of the thought of being reduced to smears on the floor makes me blanch. Zaku seems to have the same thought as me as we gulp in the same breath. Not good.

"Well, mummy b-, er, Dosu. Yeah. Let's go."

He quirks his head towards me and twists his single visible eye into a curious expression. For a moment we stand there in an uncomfortable atmosphere. He decides to drop my faux pas and we turn to walk that same route to the field we met our Sensei in. That was way too close.

-xxx-

"Kin. What is your issue?" Sensei has barely restrained rage on his face as we approach the rocky area. I can't help the way my body curls into itself like I was punched in the gut. In a way, a social punch can be worse than a physical one. At least with an actual punch I don't have to talk.

I begin to bow and start my apology but I am cut off as soon as I incline my head downward. "I don't care. Don't be late again. Ever. Last chance."

Zaku looks worried, Dosu flicks his eye at me then returns his gaze to Sensei.

'I'm sorry Kin...' putting an adult in a situation like this is awful, but a teenage girl...

"We'll start with laps. Thirty to the boulder at the base of the hill and back for the boys, one hundred for you Kin."

'Sigh.'

Not a light punishment but better than literal medical grade torture. 'I've got to toe the line, for my sake and Kin's.'

We three form a line and prep ourselves into classic runners poses.

"Well, at least we aren't getting punished for your ineptitude." Dosu says it like it is the most normal thing to say to a person. I can't squash the rising shame in my chest. Even though I'm not invested in their opinions, they're the only people I know. If I lose their consideration... I'll be stranded.

Zaku doesn't say a word.

"Start!"

We blast off in the same moment. For a second I am surprised at my sheer speed. For a few strides, I'm in perfect step with the two boys. Though, I begin to lose pace and make it to the destination while the others are already a quarter of the way up the hill.

'This is going to suuuuck.'

-xxx-

I come running, well, more so ungainly bounding over the crest of the hill. I fall to my hands and knees at the feet of Sensei. He presses his boot to my back with a sneer on his face. "Get up Kin, you're just embarrassing yourself."

I bit by bit I push up, my face flush and my hair sticky. It is difficult to control my breathing but, I realize if I don't, I'll pass out. I wipe my face on my camo scarf-wrap which clears me of the most odious of my snot and sweat. I look around to see Zaku toying one of those ninja stars that I only ever saw in paper form before. Dosu was hunched over, tinkering with some metal bracer on his left arm.

Sensei claps once and immediately we all turn our visages to him. "We will be learning a basic Chakra control exercise today. I expect you all to practice in your own time." He shoots a glance towards Zaku who sighs and ambles over.

"What is it Sensei?" Dosu jumps to his feet and pads over to join the group.

"In general it is known as tree-climbing. Yet, due to the lack of trees in our environs, that's a bit of a misnomer. Still, that's the common name." He strides over to a particularly spire-like boulder and does the blatantly impossible. He walks up against a vertical surface with certainty and without changing his stride in the slightest. He reaches the top of the boulder and perches there like he was standing on flat ground.

"Now I know I'm hallucinating." I can't stop myself from the comment. That's impossible. "Gravity doesn't say 'oh sure, Sensei, go ahead and walk right up this big rock. I bet everyone will be super impressed by how nonchalant you are about it.'"

Sensei shoots me a bemused look. The others chuckle. Irritation boils in my stomach at having my perfectly reasonable expectation brushed aside.

"People can't walk up ninety-degree angles as though they aren't even a little bit difficult! It's impossible!"

"I appreciate the sentiment. You have to realize that using Chakra in certain ways has its advantages, Kin. It is no different to the paper sticking exercise that you learned all those years ago. The only difference is that you have to mold and maintain your Chakra in a more difficult place than your hands."

I turn to Zaku and Dosu. They'd back me up on this. This is utter insanity. Though of course, following the script, they're huddled together glancing at me.

"You must have jarred something in her brain yesterday. I'm telling you, Dosu."

"What I did was no worse than you punching her this morning. Maybe she was experimenting with a particularly fun Genjutsu and it fried her brain? Not that it makes much of a difference anyway..."

"I can hear you!" My eye twitches in annoyance at them. Chakra, Genjutsu. What is this!? How can people be so casual about this stuff!

Dosu chuckles. Zaku snickers.

Sensei is starting to look annoyed at our antics. "Alright, Kin. Since you seem to be having the most difficulty grasping this simple concept I can see you're going to need extra time on this. You're up first. Now, mold your Chakra into your foot and stick it to... that boulder." Sensei indicates a boulder a few meters to his right around half the height of his own boulder.

"Mold... Chakra? What does that even mean?" I apparently can't help myself from digging a deeper hole for myself. By the time the day is done, I'll be halfway to this world's equivalent of China.

Sensei, in a gesture that's starting to seem painful, sighs and jumps right off the rock and lands right in front of me. He places his hand on my stomach.

"Here is your Hara. It is where your spiritual and physical energies mix and form your Chakra." His hand glows blue and I gasp. I clutch at my stomach as I step back.

'What in the world.'

He doesn't even blink. "Gathering up your excess energies, you can perform various Jutsu. You can also augment your physical abilities. It is said that Ninja can live 30 days without food or sleep on nothing but their own Chakra stores. Though I wouldn't recommend that, personally. Any more inane questions that I know you know the answer already?" His eyes darken.

"N... no sir." I can't take my hands off my stomach. I can't stop feeling it, Chakra.

It's as though blood was able to be sensed. I could feel the coursing of my Chakra as though it were a path so well traveled by so many people. It emanates from my center and radiates outwards like a beam. Then returns back from my tips like light reflecting off a mirror. I didn't feel it before because it wasn't called to my attention. Yet, there it is, a new sense. Chakra. I look at Zaku, Dosu, Sensei. Nothing seemed off about them. They looked like regular people.

'They have this inside of them too.'

What are the implications of using such a wondrous new resource? What else can I do to defy basic physical boundaries? I turn to look at the rock which Sensei indicated that I climb with only my feet.

'I, too, have that ability.'

I shuffle my way to the rock. I billow the Chakra. The motion, for lack of a better word, radiating downwards my legs and ending at my toes. I take a single step onto the rocky face. I take another step onto the surface. I find myself hovering on a vertical surface.

The disorientation of gravity causes me to lose focus on my 'dam' and fall flat on my back.

Zaku laughs out loud, Dosu snorts, Sensei sighs, and I groan.

-xxx-

Half a workday later and we break for lunch. Four hours of falling on my ass. I got over the disorientation but found that I couldn't manage more than two steps before losing my grip. At the very least the others seemed to be having similar problems.

Dosu kept destroying the rocks he attempted to climb. He was unperturbed at first but by the third hour of the same results, he began to look aggravated.

Zaku did better than me by a small margin. He would slide down the surface and curse every time without fail.

Sensei tells us we'll be expected to master it within the week. I can't help but feel that's a bit reaching, but what choice would we have. Not learn how to do this? I'll have to experiment and read. It'll be nothing more than testing and isolating hypotheses.

Lunch here is a quiet and unimpressive affair, rice with vegetables. I'm glad that Zaku seems to have been delegated to being the resident cook. He brought plenty for all four of us. Not that I'm complaining, but my cooking expertise begins and ends with microwaves and scrambled eggs.

I decide sooner rather than later would be the better course; so I ask them about something that I'll need to get. "Dosu, Zaku, do you think you'd come with me to the bookstore or library after our team meeting today? I have some things that I want to read about." Dosu takes the comment in stride while Zaku looks astonished at me.

"Sure thing Kin. I'm glad you're finally deciding to see the light regarding reading. There's a whole world of literature out there!"

"What the hell is wrong with you Kin? You never cared before!"

"Now, Zaku, we don't need to worry about our teammate acquiring a taste in literature. If anything, it's a good thing."

"But you hate reading! People don't suddenly just change overnight like this!"

"I don't see what the problem is... they're just stupid books..."

Zaku pauses at that and Dosu sighs.

"Same old Kin." They simultaneously say.

'Smooth... God, I'm bad at this.'

-xxx-

After lunch, we, of course, had another custodial job to complete. I found myself trying to use my Chakra to stick to surfaces while we completed the job with mixed results. All the practice with the strange energy will be required of me. And sticking to walls and slippery surfaces seems like a useful skill to have.

"Zaku, will you be joining us on our grand adventure this evening?" Dosu sidles up to Zaku and poses his question in a teasing tone of voice.

Zaku doesn't even bother to hide his distaste. "Hard pass. I have better things to do."

"Now, now, if Kin can come around I'm sure a little duckling like yourself will come around in no time. Isn't that right Kin?"

I turn my head to regard them. Zaku is bristling at the comment.

'Critical hit.' I can't help the thought of their bickering from giving me a tinge of amusement. I giggle.

Zaku huffs and darts away, Dosu looks pleased.

"Say Kin..."

"Yeah?"

"What is your interest in reading? You don't strike me as a fiction type of person."

"No, you're right. I want to learn more, I'm hoping to find theory and instructional texts. Maybe a journal and some pens."

Dosu, even though his expression didn't change from the amusement from before, sounds disappointed. "I knew it was too good to be true. Those are some boring reads."

"But useful," I counter.

"...Yes..."

-xxx-

The bookstore is rather small and cramped. Shelves line the walls and piles of books are strewn about the floor and on top of chairs and desks. As soon as we arrive Dosu goes to a shelf and immediately picks out a couple of books. He seems content to browse for now.

I don't see any rhyme or reason to how the books are placed with each other. The Asian symbols of the titles supplying me with titles like "Snow Country" and the "Treatise of the use of Chakra in the Production of Precious Metals".

'I'll never get used to this... I don't know a single of these symbols under my own knowledge. But I guess looking a gift horse in its mouth is foolish.'

Not knowing where to begin, I ask Dosu, "where do you think I should start?"

He stares me with his single half-lidded eye. He pads over to a shelf across the room so I follow him. He considers the numerous titles. "What do you want to learn about?"

"Um..."

'How to pass as your old friend. That'd be nice.'

"How about something in depth on Chakra..."

He gives me an incredulous look. "That's a bit too broad. Do you want Genjutsu theory, Chakra control, Ninjutsu styles, etc."

I consider the question. 'I have no clue.' But he sees my hesitation and proffers two books from the shelf and presents them to me.

"Basic Theory on the Application of Chakra for the Purpose of Ensnaring the Senses. Not a wieldy title." I grimace at the thought of heavy-handed academic reading.

'If the title is anything to go by then this book will be a slog.'

I consider the second title. Its It's simply titled "Chakra, Use and Control".

"With how you use your Genjutsu I'm not surprised that you haven't read even that introductory text. The other one should be a good refresher course. Since it seems, you're suffering some amnesiac episode." Dosu shrugs. "Perhaps it'll even make you actually lethal. Though with your inane infatuation with senbon I doubt that."

At this point, the thought of a teenager talking about developing lethal force seemed mundane. I crack a small smile, even. "Thanks, Dosu."

'Now to find a few notebooks and pens...'

-xxx-

Back at my apartment, with newly acquired books in tow. I settle down to prepare some of the random ingredients strewn about her kitchen into an edible meal.

"At least I have a rice cooker..." I muse.

As I wait for the rice to steam I decide to pull up my book on Chakra itself. 'It seems Sensei left out quite a bit with his explanation.'

Chakra, as I understood the book's explanation of it, permeates every living thing. It is the spiritual force of the world made physical, and the physical world taken into the spiritual domain. Not tangible but still mutable. Not quite opaque, like a blue glass. Apparently, it takes years of careful training to 'unlock' it as it were.

"Thanks, I guess, Kin..."

At least the first step of accessing the blood-like spirit energy was taken care of for me. Unnoticed until I touched my clothed belly, a faint swirling pressure permeates my core.

"Ugh."

It makes me nauseated, like bad carnival food being sloshed about after a ride on the tilt-a-whirl. I drop my hand from my core and the feeling dissipates.

I continue my reading. The rice cooker eventually pings that the rice is cooked and I set myself a plate to eat while I shore up my knowledge.

-xxx-

Familiarizing myself with a concept that I both understand how to use innately but have had no actual knowledge of was a novel experience. I could call the Chakra to my hands with a mere thought, a ghostly blue dancing on my fingers. Calling it blood like was, apparently, an apt comparison. As the unrefined and uncontrolled energy seems to drop down my arms. It eventually dissipates into the aether. Directing the flow itself was easy, utilizing it was a frustrating experience.

At first, I attempted to stick a piece of paper ripped from one of the procured notebooks to my hand. I could sense the Chakra make contact but refuse to stick as I attempted to lift the paper from the table.

'I'm going to die, aren't I?'

A negative thought at each failure, a mantra of doom.

'I have to get this right. I won't die again. I can't, I refuse to die.'

The book had some rather helpful diagrams on how to visualize the Chakra. First, billow it out and touch the paper. Then, while billowing the Chakra, the arrows reverse and instruct that a continuous flow backward would need to be utilized simultaneously to make the paper stick. The opposing motions were an exercise in frustration.

'How in the world am I supposed to emit and callback simultaneously??'

I cast a glance at the alarm clock. I was forced to buy it upon Dosu's insistence. Since my internal alarm is currently so messed up, I'd need the help. That, and he and Zaku probably would get sick of waking me up pretty fast.

'It's starting to get late...'

I fold the page in half and place it inside the book as a makeshift bookmark.

'I should probably shower...' feelings of dread and revulsion instantly overtakes me. I grip my arms in a defensive posture and hunch over, my voluminous hair covering my face. 'I should just stop thinking about it. Maybe, eventually, I'll get used to this body.'

-xxx-

I arrive at the team training an hour early, intending to get the necessary practice in taming my Chakra. Not wanting to get it wrecked, I decided to leave the books on Chakra in my apartment. To my surprise it seems Dosu was already there, having the same idea as myself.

He stops in his relentless destruction of those poor boulders to regard my arrival. He then decides, apparently, I am not worth considering. So he turns back to his destructive task. I walk up to a boulder and prepare myself for the inevitable pain of falling from short heights.

We keep it up for the rest of the hour, it seems Dosu was getting better at reigning in his Chakra. He only managed to puncture little foot-shaped holes into the rock. I was having marginally better successes. Sometimes it seemed as though I could walk up an entire half a meter. Then I'd suddenly lose control of my Chakra completely and fall. Other times, my feet would refuse to stick at all. The sheer randomness of the situation alluded me.

It felt like being at war with myself.

"Oi! What the hell!" Zaku bounded up to me with an annoyed look on his face. "Were you really here this entire time? I, the gentleman I am, came to your place to make sure you didn't flake but you weren't even there."

"Oh. Sorry Zaku. I guess I should have left a note." I give him a weak smile. That was sweet of the kid, 'even though he could improve his disposition...'

"I just figured that practicing would be a better use of my time than slee-."

Zaku groans and digs his hands through his hair. "What happened to fun Kin..."

"I think it's a good thing. If she keeps this up, well... we'll only have one useless member of the team." Dosu casually ducks under a punch and sweeps Zaku with his leg in the same motion. Zaku falls painfully and grumbles something I couldn't quite catch.

'We need to work on socializing if this is how we always treat each other.'


	4. 03 - Lying

It has been five days since my... relocation. Instead of going to train an hour early like I had been the last few days I instead decided to study a bit. The book I have been studying on Chakra is dry and uninteresting. The terms used in the text are so jargony that piecing together information for notes is a mentally laborious task. For a change of pace, I open the book titled "Basic Theory on the Application of Chakra for the Purpose of Ensnaring the Senses".

Despite my initial misgivings about it being overly academic, the text is, well, basic.

_Of course, one can use Chakra to create constructs as well as force it into physical elemental forms._

I note that down for later research, "elemental Chakra" sounds interesting.

_Chakra in its raw mental form, however, can be used to influence the perceptions of others. Smell, taste, sight, balance, hearing, touch, indeed all sensations can be fooled through either directly impacting certain portions of a target's brain or Chakra Network. Techniques that deal with tricking any or all those senses are known as Genjutsu. Of course, those sensations are false. If a Genjutsu is obvious it can be countered by simply disrupting one's Chakra system (see notes on page 502 for more on this technique) or from feeling actual pain._

_A basic introductory Genjutsu is an auditory Genjutsu. The technique is called "Disruptive Sound Waves". It causes the target a severe form of tinnitus. It impacts the Chakra Network Tenketsu located above the ears by agitating it. While it..._

"Hmm..." I continue my note taking for the remaining hour.

-xxx-

"So, Zaku?" I turn to face Zaku as we eat the lunch he prepared. For a meal with only rice, chicken, and vegetables, it's quite tasty.

"Yeah? What?" He doesn't look up from his meal.

'Ugh. Rude.'

My eye twitches in annoyance. "So! After lunch do you want to spar together?" I didn't feel like getting caught off guard like that first day again. Preparing myself for those situations will be paramount to my continued survival.

Zaku pauses in his eating. He places his chopsticks on top of his bowl and sends me a withering glance. "Don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?"

"What?" Taken aback the food I was chewing falls from my mouth. "Who do you think you are!?"

"Oh boy. Here we go." Dosu turns to Sensei. "Sensei, do you think we could be clear of the destruction radius this time? I do not want to be involved with these two idiots more than I have to be."

"Dosu, every battle is a learning opportunity. Even witnessing a battle that has skills you don't personally use can tell you more about alternate fighting styles." Sensei doesn't seem too taken aback by this turn of events.

I'm kinda ticked off by all this nonchalance. Deep in my soul I know I have to prove myself to these people.

'I have to beat Zaku!'

"Zaku! I'm going to kick your ass!" I stand up and grab him by his collar.

"Kinnnnnn. C'mon... You know you can't beat me."

I shoot a glare at him. "When I'm done you're going to regret saying that."

'What is wrong with this kid!?'

-xxx-

We face each other off in a clearing without many rocks at all. To be honest, it looked like an inconspicuous area of hard dirt.

"No fatal blows. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu are allowed. Keep at it until knockout or surrender."

I eyed my competition for anything I can exploit. If I can beat him I'll have some respect around here. If not, well, Sensei did say it would be a learning experience.

Zaku continues with his vexing nonchalant attitude, by being gross and picking at something in his nose. 'He isn't taking me seriously at all!'

"Begin!" Sensei darts back a few meters in a single jumping motion.

'I gotta get the upper hand.' I throw some of those knives (apparently they're called kunai) at his legs. I decide that a circumspect route would offer me the best chance of taking him out. I run an ovular path to his left side.

Right when my kunai are about to connect he steps to the side closer to me! "Ha! Big mistake asshole!" I prepare myself to dash the last few meters between us.

Zaku holds up the palm of his left hand.

'That's a confusing block.'

Undeterred by that, the nanoseconds draw out longer as I close the distance. Then without warning, a powerful gust of air catches my abdomen. I grunt and stop in my tracks, doubled over.

Zaku doesn't hesitate, he checks the side of my face with his other elbow and follows up with a kick to my knees. I drop to my knees in pain. I attempt to grab onto his clothes to bring him down with me but he effortlessly dodges my swipe. Before I know it, he has a kunai to my throat.

"It's over. Surrender already, Kin."

Hot embarrassment rises on my face. I feel like a house of cards about to be knocked over.

"I..."

I swallow and feel the cold steel against my neck.

"I give."

He withdraws and I'm left kneeling on the ground. 'I wasn't even a challenge for him.'

"Hey, Kin?" Zaku offers his hand to help me up. Despite my embarrassment, I take the offer of reconciliation.

"Yeah, what?"

"How come you didn't use your bells?" Zaku looks puzzled. "We both know the fight would have been much more even if you even attempted a technique."

"Ah, I guess I forgot."

'Why would bells be useful for fighting?'

I can't help my wonder at the strange weapons these people use. Though if there is pretty much magic in this world... hand cannons and using bells in combat probably isn't even slightly strange here.

"How do you forget to use your most important techniques?" Dosu slides over to join us.

"I figured if I rush him down he wouldn't expect it." It's the truth.

Sensei claps once to grab our attention. "Well, this is a good learning opportunity for Kin. When in combat it's best to first use what you're familiar with then move into a more... experimental fashion as combat conditions evolve. Keep this in mind, everyone."

"Yes, Sensei." We chorus in harmony.

'I need to figure out what Kin would use those bells for...'

The list of Things to Know seems to be growing by the hour. Scratch that, it _is_ growing by the hour.

'Sigh.'

-xxx-

We thankfully didn't have to clean up a lab for our mission today. Instead, we were instructed to gather medical supplies from a warehouse then deliver them to around thirty labs.

"We should split up once we arrive at the warehouse." Dosu is leading the way to the warehouse, which is a good kilometer from our training ground. We have until sundown to complete the mission so none of us are in a particular rush.

Once I realized what he was saying I miss a step. Thankfully, I'm trailing behind so no one noticed. 'I have no clue how to get around. Crap.'

'How to go about asking for help? There's no way I could get lucky enough to deliver each item to ten separate locations _and then_ find my way home. Unless...'

I concentrate on Kin's memories. Flashes dance across my vision.

"_I don't understand why you-"_

_A great green field of flowers dancing in the breeze-_

_The horrible feeling of loneliness and __**danger**__-_

_A house- A room- An old man setting a campfire-_

I clutch my head by the temples. I breathe in, I breathe out slowly, purposefully. 'That's not happening.'

Plan B, ask an adult. Or in this case, Dosu.

"Um, Dosu?" I feel a flutter of embarrassment, which I quash. I don't like asking for help but I have to rid myself of such compunctions.

Dosu turns his head to regard me. "What is it Kin? Do you dislike the plan?"

"No! No, it's not that... but... do you have a map of the labs I'd have to take the supplies to? I can't really remember where they are, you see..."

"Who are you and what have you done to Kin?" Zaku whirls. I blink, shell-shocked surprise overtaking my countenance.

"Um. Zaku?" I scratch my right cheek.

"You aren't Kin. There's no way she'd ever ask for help like **that**!" Zaku digs his feet into the ground, he's tense. 'Does he think I'm going to attack him? I gotta defuse this.'

"You've been acting weird this entire fucking week. You didn't even attempt a _clone _in the spar, you haven't been half as prissy about your hair. You even smell, like, fuck! Take a shower already! I gave you the benefit of the doubt, maybe it's some weird girl stuff, I don't know. But Kin, the real Kin, she has the best sense of direction on this squad. Even better than Sensei-hardass!" He pulls out a kunai, brandishing it towards me.

"Who the **fuck** are you?"

In desperation, or perhaps habit, I dig in my pockets for a tool to use. I used to carry screws and nails on the off chance something needed repair. The motion of searching causes him to tense further, and as I'm about to utter something my hand brushes some paper.

'What is-?'

Slowly, to ensure I'm not attacked, I pull out a scrap of paper in my pocket. I look it over but it's unintelligible smeared ink. Though, the word "Genjutsu" in their native writing is legible. Thinking back to my reading, this may very well be the perfect excuse. I level Zaku's intense stare with a stare of my own.

"Well, uh, you were kind of right about before."

Dosu, who was taking this whole exchange in stride, somehow, decided that was an incorrect response. He turned and got into a battle-ready stance, raising his arms up and positioning the metal holes to me. "If you are not Kin, then who are you? You are clearly the worst infiltrator devised to blow your cover so blatantly."

"Infiltrator? What? I'm, no, I'm Kin."

'God damn it, why couldn't I get the gift of gab that would be useful right about now.'

"I don't believe you." Zaku looked about ready to attack.

'I only had a few responses left before this situation becomes unsalvageable.'

"Well, to tell you the truth. I don't think I'm _really_ Kin anymore. But this is still Kin in front of you." It is the truth.

Dosu regards my stance, searching me. "Yes... we are talking to Kin. But **you** are not her, clearly. Your behavior from the last few days indicated a severe personality change. What happened to you that morning?"

I take a step forward and they hackle. I turn the paper to them, pointing to the only legible word.

"Genjutsu."

They weren't expecting this. Zaku blanches and Dosu narrows his visible eye. 'Okay, next step of my elaborate lie.'

"I think I was experimenting with a Genjutsu that night, maybe even that morning since I puked. Ugh. This technique must have caused me to forget a lot of things and, apparently, it changed my personality. That must be why I didn't use my techniques, and why I seem to be having issues with grasping some concepts."

Zaku looks to Dosu, at a loss of what to do or say about that. Dosu blinks once. Looks considering, and blinks again. "I see..."

"So, uh, you see why I haven't quite been myself lately. I seem to be fine now though! You don't need to worry about me!" I hasten to add that last point.

'The last thing I need is a person doing medical tests on me around here. That would be a horrible idea.'

"Seriously, Kin? How irresponsible can you be!? Why didn't you tell anyone!" Zaku stamps his feet, about to go into a temper tantrum.

"Zaku, if she couldn't answer you immediately then that point is moot. She couldn't have possibly _known_."

He levels me with a dry look, "I hope you learned your lesson about experimentation regarding _your own mind_. I am sure if you applied for it, you could have even gotten a used test subject."

"I, well, I thought I was fine, to be honest. I've dealt with worse, Zaku." I cross my arms and look to the ground. Like that time I died and was reincarnated. "Yeah, I was clearly reckless... I'll keep that in mind, Dosu." Dosu looked to be somewhat placated at that admission.

Zaku huffs. "Yeah... I guess. So, what do you remember?"

I grimace. "Theoretically, I remember everything from before that morning. In practice, however... the memories are too disorienting to rely on. I've just been going off instinct and guesswork these last few days."

Dosu places a hand on Zaku's shoulder. "We shouldn't worry about it, Zaku. Besides this version of Kin is far more bearable."

Zaku bristles at that. "How can you say that! She's a totally different person! How can we trust her to work in combat situations like this?"

Dosu sends a glance at me. "If we were to help you, would you be able to relearn your techniques without endangering yourself or others?"

I consider the point.

'I had learned basic Chakra control exercises I was sure that Kin would have used. Not very well, but the ground work is there.'

"Yes. I relearned how to use Chakra, and had no issues."

Dosu looks pleased with that. "Well, that's that then!" He immediately turns to continue our mission. "We should stick together to reacquaint Kin with the area. Would you not say, Zaku?"

Zaku continues to look pissy. "This is fucking complete and utter **bullshit**."

"Aah. Sorry to trouble you Zaku." I give him a weak smile.

'Way too close of a call.'

Zaku sends me a glare.

-xxx-

After completing the delivery mission Zaku declared that he was "tired of our stupid fucking faces" and stalked off to his home. At this point, I was completely expecting his reaction. I can't blame the kid, right?

Dosu turns his gaze toward me. "We must inform Sensei tomorrow." That simple statement causes me to freeze up.

"Are you sure he has to know? I'm sure I can manage on my own."

"While the basic reading I introduced you to will be sufficient in shoring up the basic knowledge-"

"But..."

Dosu looks irked. "Do **not **interrupt me. I am indeed team leader in any and all absences of Sensei, so coming to me with this... medical issue... is appropriate. But Sensei is our direct commanding officer. Any and all abnormalities must be reported to him at the earliest possible time. I am sure he will not be happy with the fact that we were all left in the dark. But considering the circumstances... it will be understandable, if annoying."

I shift my weight from side to side and fiddle with my hands. "So tomorrow..." I fail to finish the thought so Dosu picks up the line of reasoning I started.

"Yes, tomorrow we will tell Sensei of your entire situation Kin. In the meantime, care to explain exactly what you do know?"

'Holy crap that conversation can go so bad. Please let there not be any mind readers in this world. Worst of all let _Sensei_ not be a mind reader.'

"I know of Chakra and the theory of its essential nature and use. I can call it up and manipulate it, even if my control is probably very poor. I have no knowledge of my techniques. But, I know how to use Taijutsu and throwing weapons through pure muscle memory."

"Hmm. Not much. But not as bad off as expected. Can you do the basic three?"

I give him a confused look. Dosu sighs, "I guess not then. Okay, so the basic three Jutsu are as follows: Henge, Bushin, and Kawarimi."

"Okay. And those are specifically?"

Dosu looks amused. "At their basic form, they are the same technique with three different targets. The Transformation technique allows the user to change their appearance at will. It is indistinguishable from the real thing. Though, very specific abilities allow people to see through it. The Clone technique is similar, a Chakra clone construct. It is able to take the form of anything, but is non-physical. Clones are not able to use independent thought. And, thus, the movement of the clones must be controlled by the user through their Chakra. The Body Replacement is a body-switch technique. The user chooses an object and distorts the space between them, causing a switch. It is extremely useful in combat scenarios. In summary: target oneself to change, target nothing to create, and target another to change places."

"Holy crap Chakra is OP."

"OP?" Dosu gives me a blank look of confusion.

"Ah. I mean overpowered. I mean, even one of those techniques completely breaks the rules."

Dosu considers this point but doesn't seem particularly put out. "I suppose you are correct, in a way. Though, every single trained Shinobi and Kunoichi would have mastered those techniques." Dosu then looks amused. "'OP' sounds like an interesting term, perhaps I will start to use it."

I feel amusement break across my features. "Don't overuse it though. Otherwise, it loses its meaning, you know?"

"Indeed."

-xxx-

"Ex-excuse me, Sensei." The next day, as Sensei arrives, Dosu and I approach him. I am shaking. 'Please let this go well. My nerves are totally on edge!'

Sensei regards us, his expression placid. "Yes, Kin? Are you having trouble with the new Jutsu?" He places a hand on his hip.

"No, well... yes. But this isn't really about that..." I cast my gaze to Dosu, who was flanking my right side. Dosu gets the hint.

"Sensei, Kin is having some issues with her memory." Well, that was entirely bland and uninformative. He flicks his only visible eye to my face.

'Now it's my turn, I suppose.'

"Yes, I seem to have made a... mistake... with a Genjutsu."

Sensei looks troubled. "I see... I take it there is more?"

Zaku, who was blasting stones apart with his weird aircurrent Jutsu, snorts at that. Sensei flicks a glance at him but returns his attention to me immediately.

"Yes. To be more specific about my issue... I cannot practically remember anything before that morning I missed training, a few days ago. I mean, well, I can remember things. But the memories are so disjointed and... foreign... feeling that it physically pains me to recall anything prior to these last few days. So you see... that's why I've been so strange these last few days."

Sensei looks nonplussed at my (lie) admission. We three stewed in that silence for almost five minutes. Before Zaku decides to put his _entirely not helpful_ two-cents.

"She's not even the same person anymore, Sensei. I don't think we should allow her to go on missions with us anymore." He casts a glance at me. "Just look at her. She'll be totally useless."

"In Kin's defense, she has shown that she can relearn quickly with little input or help. While, at this time, I would not recommend she be sent out on any mission above D-rank. If she were to keep up her current pace of improvement she will be caught up to her original level by the end of the month."

Sensei looks considering. "That's only three weeks Dosu."

"Sensei, I will not be a burden. I will work hard every day to ensure that I am not dragging anyone else down." I bow low. "Please teach me, Sensei."

"I will take everything I heard today into consideration. If, by the end of the allotted probationary period you do not show _marked_ _improvement_: I will immediately petition your removal from this squad. Is that understood?"

"Thank you." I maintain my bow. "I will not let you down."

-xxx-

A/N: Hey, thanks for reading and your reads/reviews/follows/favorites! I'm not sure about the etiquette about answering reviews in the body of the text or via PM, but I will say thank you again nonetheless. It's about to blizzard out here in the midwest, so I'm excited (and preparing) for the first storm haha. Plans are to release the next chapter on December 10, titled Empty.


	5. 04 - Empty

_"Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses"_

_"Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,"_

I sing to myself softly in my room while gathering up sweaty clothes into the hamper, preparing for laundry on my team's day off. As lazy as it may sound, the fact that there are basic modern amenities here like washers and dryers fills my heart with happiness. I at least don't have to put in the extra work to do my laundry like in olden times.

_"Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses"_

_"Et monter vers le coeur troublé."_

It may not be the wisest thing to do but I like singing, so why not sing an old classical piece. I always liked this song ever since being introduced to classical music by my dad. Even though the piece isn't in my native tongue, it still feels nostalgic in a way.

_"Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde"_

'I wonder what Dosu does in his spare time? I know he likes to read and train, but what else is there to him? What about Zaku, does he cook a lot? I really don't know anything about Sensei, other than he's a hard ass...'

_"Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau,"_

I grimace at a particularly gross set of clothes. It was covered in that purple gunk from my first mission.

'I should set this on fire.'

But I don't, I only have a few sets of clothes.

'I should buy more clothes today.'

I have a livable amount of money, I don't seem to need to pay much for rent or food but I still don't have a large amount of cash on me. Kin doesn't have a bank account, apparently the team goes to the Otokage's office every month to collect a salary. Not that I've ever met the man, as he seems to be very busy, but there is always someone there. Just in case.

_"Car nous nous en allons, comme s'en va cette onde:"_

I collect the last of my laundry and throw a notebook and my books on top of the clothes. I balance the basket on my hip to open the door. I head down to the location of the laundry area I found earlier, which is located on the ground level of my apartment and behind the building. I have never met any of my neighbors, but I know people live here. The bedsheets on the clothesline change everyday.

'Maybe everyone is nocturnal here...'

_"Elle à la mer, nous au tombeau."_

I place my basket on the ground. I decide to wash my colors first and sort them into the washer, leaving the whites behind. I grab the detergent and pour it into the dispenser drawer. I set the washer and pull out my book on Chakra Theory, leaning against the machine as I study.

-xxx-

After doing my laundry and cleaning up my room I'm at a loss of what to do. I already studied for four hours today, counting my reading while waiting for my clothes to become magically clean and fresh. I well exceeded my allotted study time today and don't have anymore chores.

'What does Kin do in her spare time? If I had some supplies I could do some cool stuff to this apartment.'

Normally I would watch videos online, mess around on my smartphone, listen to or make music, or maybe find some friends to hang out with-

'That's an idea! I'll just find Zaku and Dosu!'

I skip out of my apartment. We aren't really friends but being friendly will put us one step closer. Thankfully they showed me where they live after our delivery mission, so I know just where to go. Dosu lives only a few buildings from me so that's the first stop. I knock on his ground level apartment door, tucking my hands behind my back. A few seconds later Dosu cracks open his door enough to see me but not let me in.

"Hey Dosu!" I chirp out and wave. "How're things?"

"What do you want Kin?" His eye narrows. "I'm not in the mood to help you out with your studies."

I falter at that. "Oh, it's nothing like that. I just got done with studying and chores. I was bored so I came to see you!" I smile and tilt my head. "Can't I spend time with my team?"

He continues to stare at me with his narrowed eye. I begin to feel unnerved.

"Um, Dosu?"

"Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone." He closes the door in my face.

"Oh. See you tomorrow, then." That was rude, I wasn't expecting him to be so asocial. He never shied from speaking and before he was always friendly to me.

'Well I have one more teammate to try, I guess.'

Zaku lives two streets over on the top floor of a three floor complex. It takes a couple minutes to make my way over to him. I pass a few other pedestrians milling about the street and walking in and out of shops. There doesn't seem to be any cars in this world so it's probably safer than in my world to just wander.

At the top of the stairs of his complex I spy Zaku outside watering a potted plant. This should be easy, I plaster a smile to my face and call out to him.

"Hey! Zaku!"

He looks startled and darts his head to the origin of the noise. He eyes me up and down.

"Hey! Kin. Do you need something?"

"No, I was bored after finishing what I need to do today. So I decided to visit you. Do you have anything you need to do today?"

He smirks at me. "I'm glad you kept some habits. No, I don't have shit to do." He sets the watering can next to his plant. He strides over to me and starts down the stairs. "Come on, let's go to our usual place."

'Thank the Lord, he's actually social!'

"Let's go!"

I follow behind him for a few minutes. We eventually exit the village and come to a rocky area with some caves.

"So... this... is the place, huh?" I muse. Zaku doesn't say anything and just smirks. We head into one of the caves. It isn't very deep but does have a turn. He plops down onto a boulder and kicks back.

'Is this all? Seems boring.'

"So, Zaku..."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Just give me a second to settle down, would ya?"

I am taken aback at that, what does he intend to do? "What do you mean? I'm a bit lost here, Zaku."

He casts a glance at me then rolls his eyes. "I keep forgetting you're a total amnesiac. Fine, here, cripple gets the first hit."

"Hit? Hit who?"

He digs into his pocket and procures a pipe and lighter, offering them to me. Tentatively I pick them out of his hand. 'Oh God, Kin smokes. But nothing smells like cigarettes in her apartment...'

"What is this?" I look up from the items to Zaku.

"Oh Kami, you're really dumb. It's cannabis you idiot. It's drugs. You seriously can't remember anything can you?"

"D- d- drugs!? Zaku!" I almost drop it but manage to catch the items with my other hand. Some of the ground plant matter fell onto the ground, though.

Zaku points and laughs at me. "I can't believe this!" He continues with his raucous laughter slapping his thigh. "You're the one who introduced me to this stuff! This is too rich!"

"I- I didn't, I _wouldn't_." Drugs, oh my God Kin. "Why haven't I felt any withdrawal symptoms!? Zaku this kind of stuff is dangerous!"

Well that didn't stop his hilarity, if anything it caused him to become even more giggly. "Withdrawal!? You're too dense! Here give it to me, I'll show you idiot!" Despite myself I return the items to him.

"Zaku, we shouldn't be doing this kind of stuff... what if we get into trouble?"

Zaku just snorts and places the pipe to his mouth. He inhales as he lights the plant matter. He holds his breath, I can see his chest puff out. Then he exhales and smirks at me. "This stuff isn't hard. There are no withdrawal symptoms, all it does is make you happy and kinda slow. Seriously Kin, do you think I'd let a teammate get all strung out on that kind of stuff?"

"Well, that still doesn't answer my question about it being illegal! What if we get caught?"

"Why would we get caught? There isn't anything wrong with it." He offers me the **drugs** again. "Come on, seriously, everyone does it. Sensei does it even. Don't tell me that you're turning out like _Dosu_ after your accident. I can't stand to have two sticks in the mud on my team!"

Every school assembly talking about the dangers of drug abuse and every talk with my parents about how drug users just steal and live off society battles me in my mind. "I've never even smoked a cigarette!" I refuse to take it from him.

He groans. "Fine... more for me. Guess this is what I get for being nice." He continues in his morally reprehensible activities for a few minutes while I stand there and gawk. It's incredibly awkward. Eventually, he tips the pipe over and spills the spent contents to the floor. "Seriously though Kin this is, like, all we do. If you don't want to do this we don't have a whole lot to bond over." He shrugs. "I'll miss our antics but it's whatever."

I bite my lip. "So, there isn't anything else we do? We don't hike or go shopping? Nothing like that?"

"That stuff sounds boring as shit. Go be boring somewhere else." He visibly relaxes and closes his eyes.

I start to tear up. 'I'm alone aren't? I'm going to be alone.' I clutch my arms and start to sniffle.

"Oh, God! You're crying? Now you aren't just boring and weird, now you're a total crybaby!"

"At least I'm not a loser!" I rush out of there but I hear him yell at me as I run out of the cave.

"Loser? You're the one running away!"

-xxx-

As soon as I dash into the room I sob on the floor.

"I'm alone. I'm alone. I'll always be alone here."

I spy the mirror through my tears soaked eyes, so carelessly cast aside on the floor. I pick myself up, pick up the mirror, and stare into it. My rage takes me and I smash the offensive visage with my fist, then throw it to the floor. I kick the object across the floor as though the face that was not my own would be destroyed with the shards. I stomp on it, over and over until the shards become smaller and smaller fractures.

I pull out my kunai and eye it. A loose strand of hair too **long** and too **dark** to belong to **me**, really belong to me, dances in my vision. I grasp the strand from the root and slice at it in a single motion.

The cutting stings, it is not at all like sheers. The kunai is not built for this purpose in mind. But I have to take myself back before I get lost in this persona. I slice and slice at handfuls of hair with painful shouts. I know it isn't an even cut but I don't care, the damn hair has to go.

I cry for the rest of the day, alone in my room.

-xxx-

The next day, if anyone notices my change in hairstyle no one comments. Instead, Sensei pairs me up with Dosu "in order to compare my improvements over the last week" or something.

We face each other off on the flat training area used prior by Zaku and me. The tension in my body ready to spring into any direction. Dosu appears lazy, regarding these events as not even worth half of his attention. Knowing what my skill level is at, even in spite of my improvements, I steel myself for the incoming beating. Though, that doesn't mean I couldn't show off a few tricks.

"Start!" At the very moment Sensei backs off I duck for cover behind a boulder. In haste, I throw a kunai from my cover while I run through some slow hand signs. This technique, the "Hiding in the Shadows" is pretty much a glorified Transformation; it seamlessly blends the caster with the surrounding space and adjusts to real time light conditions. I send out an illusory Clone to draw Dosu away from my position as I hear him coming from meters away. Thankfully, the ploy works to my favor and he follows after the Clone. I smirk.

He's none the wiser to my next move.

I pull out some bells attached to senbon from my bag and plant them near my position in an arc around me. If I am able to draw him into my net of disruptive Genjutsu, I could easily knock him out.

I watch and manipulate the Clone to dodge and weave as though its life depended on it. Slowly, I lured Dosu into my trap. As soon as I saw him take a single step into my work I drop my clone and hiding techniques; I then start to ring my bells, which are attached to ninja wire. Interestingly, it appears these bells aren't actual bells; they were specifically designed for casting a Genjutsu. Without channeling Chakra through them, the bells would otherwise be silent.

It does help to shake them a small amount in order to focus the technique itself, but the technique is essentially releasing Chakra down the wires in order to activate some kind of technology or weird Chakra matrix located inside the bells. More of a tool, really...

Dosu clutches his temples in an obvious show of a sudden migraine so I rushed at him with the back of a kunai. Right as I am about to connect he brings up his metal arm, which causes a loud clang to resonate. It was in that moment I knew the battle was over. I retch and crumple on my side. I start to vomit my breakfast as soon as I impact earth.

Sensei only nods and utters "as expected." I really don't know if that was positive or negative. But I don't have the emotional energy to care.

The mission of the day, which is another custodial job, is completed in silence. I clean the filth off the floors this time. I can't help myself from thinking venomous thoughts.

'Dosu is fake. He doesn't care about anyone. Zaku is an addict and he is arrogant. Sensei is a monster for teaching children to kill. I hate this place, there is nothing good about it. No light can exist in this black hole. It'll swallow up everything good about someone then twist them into monsters. No ethics, no compassion, only selfish survival.'

_'I must survive.'_

-xxx-

A/N:

Thank you for reading, your reviews and all the favorites and follows! You are each very precious to me!

Sorry if this chapter came out as a downer, it was supposed to be fluff but the friendliness (that I wanted to show) didn't make sense in the context of the story. This is going to be a long and hard road for our protagonist!

_Beau Soir_ is a French poem written by _Paul Bourget_ and used as the lyrics of an art song composed by _Claude Debussy_. I definitely suggest listening to a few recordings if you are so inclined to do. Especially the women's choir version arranged by Linda Steen on YouTube, though another great recording is by Gérard Souzay. The links will be included in my profile.

_...hopefully, I won't get into any trouble with public domain lyrics..._


	6. 05 - Curious

"I believe it is time that you focus on improving yourself rather than relearning techniques." Sensei sidles up to me after our daily conditioning training. He holds a box, which is obviously meant as a sort of gift. Knowing this place it probably was a gun or a sword. 'Though I haven't seen the use of gunpowder... something to look into if it is even feasible as a means of defense.'

"May I ask what you have in mind Sensei?" I may be a little chilly in my question but I don't believe he particularly cares. As long as I'm useful I may do as I please.

"Yes, I believe you will find this tool most useful. Please, take it." He brandishes the box ever forward. I, of course, accept the gift and bow my thanks to him as is proper from a subordinate receiving a gift from a superior. I open the box without any more preamble to find a strange contraption.

It is a shallow and long box made of wood with straps which seem to be fitted for the upper portion of a forearm. I pick it out in order to study it closer. There is a seal of some kind on the underside and a latch on the side of the object. I open the latch to see a box filled to the brim with around ten senbon. I pick one out and examine it.

"Is this some sort of launching mechanism?" If this world has the concept of ranged mechanical weaponry, why would we not be trained in the use of firearms? Surely those would be more practical than essentially strong needles and not particularly aerodynamic knives.

"Indeed, in lieu of bringing up your abysmal aim with multiple weapons," I wince at that. It's unfortunately true. I found out recently that throwing senbon and kunai straight is an actual Chakra technique of its own; especially throwing multiple weapons at once. It works by channeling a directed burst of chakra at the very moment of launch. I find it a tremendous mental exercise for anything more than one weapon at a time.

"It will be more prudent for you to rely on this senbon launcher. Of course, there are kunai launchers but they are less reliable and hold less ammunition. The offensive portion of your disruptive Genjutsu technique would due to be more accurate with rapid fire. Teaching you to throw multiple senbon again would be useless, so think of this as the offensive portion of your main strategy. You, of course, will still need to practice your aim with you bell senbon, but this should help alleviate some of your handicaps."

"Thank you very much Sensei." I bow to him for the second time, as is expected and proper. I pause and lift my head up though I continue to bow. "May I ask a question?"

"As long as it is short, there may not be a mission for you today but I have better things to do." He crosses his arms.

'I suppose that's the best I'll get...'

"Sensei, why isn't the team being trained in the use of explosives and firearms?"

He quirks his head and gives me the most confused expression I've seen from the man. "What are you going on about?"

"You know, the use of explosives for the purpose of dealing damage to a group of enemies. As well, why aren't we using guns, which are far more practical than kunai and senbon as weapons." I feel instant regret at posing this line of questioning.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are asking, Kin, are you saying you want to pick up the use of explosive tags? You can use those easily if you are able to channel chakra through your wires. You surely should realize by now that if you want to pick up on the use of such things that you would either need to become a sealer or be wealthy enough to literally burn cash. I have absolutely no clue what you are asking for the latter point, what are guns?"

'Damn it! I'm an idiot. When will I learn?'

"Erm, well I suppose I should have just asked if you'd have any introductory texts for sealing... and as for your second question.. er, I thought of an idea for a new weapon?" Might as well pose it as an original concept at this point; even if my ideas about the creation of any gun were bullet plus gun equals dead person.

"I suppose since I recently had this idea I thought I may have asked about its feasibility before... the accident."

He looks intrigued. "Do tell." He uncrosses his arms and places his hand under his chin in a thoughtful gesture. I straighten my posture.

"Well, in short, it essentially is an entirely metal senbon launcher. It instead launches small metal ball-shaped projectiles that either pierce armor or can become shrapnel upon impact. The main mechanisms of the concept alludes me, I must admit. But it would require the use of a contained explosion in order to propel said metal projectile at a speed which easily breaks the sound barrier." I'm missing a lot of information about them so I add as an afterthought, "I'm certain it would be rather loud and deadly."

He quirks his head, narrowing one eye. He clearly has trouble wrapping his mind around the concept. "I... suppose... such a weapon would have its uses. If it would be faster than sound then it would most likely be useless as a stealth tool but if it came to an all out fight such a thing could prove useful. It reminds me of a Fire Jutsu I saw once, a long while ago." He meets my eyes, calculative. "It is obviously a rough concept but if you manage to work it out I do not see why you could not use it to supplement your repertoire. I will see what I can do about acquiring you some sealing texts. I am glad you decided to come to me before you started experimenting with unknown techniques this time." He nods and crosses his arms again.

"Ah, thank you for hearing me out Sensei." Huh, that went far better than expected. I bow to him again and place the senbon launcher back into its box. "I will be studying very hard Sensei. I hope you can acquire the text I requested."

He waves me off in a clear dismissal. "I will see what I can find for your skill level, be warned that sealing texts are precious and tend to be jealously guarded. You are dismissed for the day."

A quick bow and an uttered word of gratefulness was bid before I dash off to further my studies. There is a lot to do after all.

-xxx-

"There's something off about her." Zaku shifts his gaze from Sensei to Dosu. "Like, it's not just me, right?"

"I see what you mean. Though, since she is suffering from the results of a mind altering Genjutsu it wouldn't be surprising." Dosu is standing on the vertical surface of a rock.

"She's a completely different person, dude! Kin doesn't have ideas, Kin doesn't study! What is a gun anyway? Where would she come up with that?" Zaku waves his arms wildly.

"It should not be an issue. She is fine, there is no possible way she's an infiltrator. Hidden Sound is an absolute unknown to the rest of the world." Sensei regards Zaku with an icy stare. "She is clearly making headway into retraining, and it is not by a startling amount."

"But she doesn't have fun with me anymore. A person can't just change like that so suddenly."

"Fun is a distant second to completing the mission." Sensei grimaces. "If she is improving I expect her to be more useful to Otokage-sama. Usefulness that you should emulate as well, if you knew your place."

"While I agree with you, Sensei, there is something troubling about her appearance changing so suddenly." Dosu hops off the rock. "Perhaps the training is putting undue mental strain on her?"

Sensei is silent for a few moments but he eventually breaks his reverie with a simple nod. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"I can't say that I'm well versed in mental health..." Dosu gives a sidelong glance to Zaku. "Perhaps Zaku would know?"

"Fuck you. As if I have any clue how to make a headcase less wacky. I say that she should just smoke up but she's a total prude now!" He grinds his teeth. "Like, she's acting like she's really better than me it's so aggravating..."

-xxx-

The mechanics of the launcher are fascinating. Without senbon it is easy to see the intricacies of the mechanism. It auto loads through a queue-like pressure system, whenever a senbon is launched it is almost instantly replaced by a new one. The actual housing of the senbon launcher is spring loaded, though how it resets is a mystery.

I place a senbon in the launcher and close the lid. Then, I strap it to my forearm and look for something unimportant enough to shoot. I suppose the wall is a good a place as anywhere. I take aim and flare my chakra a small amount. The machine instantly fires. A needle sticks out of my wall a few centimeters.

I take note on how little chakra the machine requires to activate. It was such a minuscule amount I don't even notice a change in the levels of my chakra. Now to see how quickly the senbon can be fired in succession.

I place the nine remaining senbon into the housing. I hear a barely audible click once I close the lid. Perhaps the housing of the queue-system requires the entire system to be closed off as a fail safe of some sort? I'd rather not have misfiring senbon so I'm glad the inventor put this into its design.

I flare my chakra twice, so two senbon escape in quick succession. Therefore, it reloads so quickly that it can process commands in less than half a second. I flare my chakra in a continuous stream firing five until I cut off the stream. Interesting, it is rather precise with timing. Though the aim slightly adjusts between each shot, so it can't be relied upon to be entirely accurate.

The most cumbersome portion of the weapon would be the lack of ammo it can feasibly hold. A limitation I can extrapolate is either by design for ease of use or a simple limitation of technology. Maybe I could modify it to have a machine gun sort of mode, but I would likely break the delicate instrument from tinkering. It would be best to leave it be for now. I can't assume that I would be receiving another.

I quickly jot down my impressions and ideas for improvements then pause. 'That'd be useful. But likely impractical for anything but first strike scenarios.' A scope lens would be an excellent appendix to the weapon of course depending on its effective range. Too bad I didn't study optics in my previous incarnation.

"Heh. As if a little bit of glass could hold me back."

There are still glass shards glistening on my floor.

-xxx-

"Zaku, Dosu, time for a spar." Sensei has his hands behind his back and barely acknowledges my teammates. "Time to see if you've improved at all."

Zaku and Dosu go to the usual sparring area. Facing each other a good two meters across from one another. Dosu seems bored while Zaku has a resolved expression. I, of course, took to sitting on a flat boulder a good distance away. But not far enough to be unable to witness their spar. The implications of Dosu being head and shoulders above both of us has been practically shoved in my face up to this point. But still, I'm curious to see how much better Dosu is compared to Zaku.

"Begin!"

Dosu springs into action, approaching Zaku in a single massive leap. Zaku clearly has no illusions about the prospects of hand-to-hand with our resident Taijutsu-type so he backs off to maintain a continuous distance to Dosu. Zaku would occasionally pelt Dosu with kunai and shuriken between using his signature air cutting. But Dosu was more limber and fast than his attacks, as he gained ground through every near miss and dodge. Eventually, Dosu was upon Zaku so the match was over. Dosu didn't even use his Melody Arm, instead a single punch just under his chin sent Zaku flying and crashing into some painful and sharp looking rocks. All in all, the spar was completed in just over a minute.

Sensei called the match and reappeared by Zaku's side in a heartbeat. He picks up the groaning boy and sets him on some flat earth. Then, Sensei calls up some green chakra to his hands and began to move his hands from Zaku's head down to his feet then over his arms. That's certainly a curious technique. 'Is it perhaps some kind of chakra enhanced first aid?'

"Sensei, may I ask what that technique you're using is called?" I head over and gawk at Zaku's surprisingly rapid healing form.

"It is known generally as Medical Jutsu, but specifically, this is the Mystical Palm. This is the basis for all medic ninjas as it can determine both the extent of damage to a patient as well as speed up recovery to most minor injuries. More advanced versions of the Mystic Palm exist for specialized purposes such as fixing broken bones or removing poisons, but this is the extent of my knowledge on the subject. It takes very fine chakra control to not damage the patient further and years of study of basic anatomy to have even the smallest grasp of what is the issue with a patient." He flicks his eyes up to me. "Many times, it is the kunoichi of a squad to take the specialized medic role. But I would not recommend you attempt it. It would take you twice as much effort to learn through your poor control." He returns his attention to Zaku, who by the second was looking more healthy. "I would actually suggest Zaku learn this discipline if he had the smallest inkling of patient."

Zaku groaned once more at that. Despite myself I cracked a small smile and chuckle. "Sounds like Sensei's got your number, huh Zaku?"

Zaku pursues his lips and narrows his eyes at me. He opens his mouth to retort something but instead scoffs and rolls his eyes. At some point during the lecture and small exchange between Zaku and myself, Dosu had appeared to join the team.

"Well, Sensei, I do hope Zaku can participate in our test on tree walking today. Hopefully my single punch didn't knock his entire Chakra system off balance." Dosu has an amused expression and then addresses me. "You, of course, remembered to practice, Kin."

I puff out my chest somewhat, it feels fake but whatever. I am fake as plastic here. "Would I do any less? I have a lot to do and can't afford to waste a single moment." In truth I barely made any progress on the tree walking front. I had managed to puzzle out how to perform the basic Chakra sticking exercise on paper by emitting and recalling my Chakra continuously. But doing the same with both of my lower limbs, which was in of itself inordinately harder, proved to be a multitasking nightmare. On top of that I was expected to be able to move around which made my practice twice as hard somehow. Maybe having some bravado would spur me to do better.

"I do not expect any of you to perform it perfectly. A week is a bit of a stretch for anyone but the most talented or determined." Sensei withdraws his glowing hands from Zaku in the same motion that Zaku hefts himself up. "But in any case, I do expect clear progress. Eventually, you will all begin to do this technique unconsciously. At that point we will move on to the next portion of the exercise."

Sensei walks over to one of the tall boulders and begins to walk up it. At this point, it isn't even surprising, really, it was merely banal. "We shall begin with Dosu. If you would, please demonstrate to us your progress so far."

Dosu lazily struts over to a tall boulder right by Sensei's. He begins the exercise, and at first it is seamless. His stride doesn't change a bit, but as he nears the top he straightens somewhat and begins to punch tiny holes into the surface. He's entirely unamused perched atop the rocky spire. Clearly, he expected to be able to do it flawlessly.

"Good job, I rate it eight out of ten. Nice start, sloppy finish. Now! Zaku if you would?"

Zaku doesn't bother to go nearer to Sensei and Dosu. Instead he picks the closest boulder by him and walks quickly but carefully up the rock. By the end he has a smug look on his face. "Heh, I'm definitely the best!"

Sensei barks out a laugh, which causes Zaku to jump and lose his footing. He tumbles down the surface landing on the ground in clear pain. I shake my head at this. The poor guy needs to maintain his concentration.

"Great use of the technique. If you did not fall like a clumsy monkey, I would have given you a ten. But instead, I must deduct a point for being too easily startled out of it. Keep practicing until you can maintain it without even thinking about it. Kin?"

Nervous tremors start to bubble. I can't help my arms and legs from feeling like jello. This is my first real test of my abilities. If I fail utterly I probably would get the boot... I make myself rigid, locking my joints. 'Confidence. Confidence. I don't need to be perfect.'

I approach the boulder that Zaku previously occupied. I see him studying me intently. I focus all of my will on the stone. I place a foot on the surface and channel Chakra down the leg.

Faintly, I can feel the Chakra adhere to the minute cracks. I start the process of sending and recalling Chakra at a constant rate; then, I place my other foot on the surface. I have grown used to the disorientation of gravity being the incorrect direction. It is merely a distraction, I disengage my foot. Step. Step. Step.

'Slow and steady wins the race...' By the time I'm halfway up the surface I open my eyes. I'm faintly surprised at my progress, my breath hitches in elation.

Of course, I misstep which flairs my panic. I reflexively channel too much Chakra, which flings me right off the surface and send stone shrapnel in all directions. I attempt to recover by rolling with the force and am mostly successful. My right shoulder smarts but I didn't get a concussion.

"Hm... Alright I suppose. I give you a generous six out of ten. You understand the theory and can apply it somewhat. You are pretty bad right now, Kin, practice more."

"Yes, Sensei..."

-xxx-

A/N: I feel like I am leaving too many of these A/N's haha. Thank you again for your reads/reviews/faves/follows!

Don't worry too much about the gun thing guys, these are freaking Ninja. And Boruto has Chakra Machine Guns anyway, so might as well speed up the timeline and see who gets shot. Not that Kin's first gun will be all that good anyway... misfires are serious!

And I feel like I should address the age thing a reviewer brought up. I never had that entirely pinned down on the character at first and I see now that was a mistake. This character should be a young-adult (that is, just recently left the nest) or at the very least really cares about how the opinions of his parents and never took the time to consider these things for himself. Some people are anti-drug based solely on principle, others just because they were told to be.

On another note, I plan on having Kin reveal that he isn't a lady to his teammates within the next few chapters (within the incoming C-Rank mission). Feel free to Private Message or comment to me any ideas for names that Kin could choose! No pressure though, I have a few pretty lame ideas already (Ken). If there are enough respondents then a Strawpoll will be taken to see what name would be most popular!

.


	7. 06 - Honor-Bound

By the third week of my probationary period I was slated to meet the Otokage for the first time.

We three, after having completed our daily D-rank, were picked up by Sensei with a salute and a quick march down the main dirt road. Well, Sensei and I marched. Dosu slouched and Zaku strolled with his hands behind his head. Dosu was the first to break the silence.

"It's a little lively today, isn't it?"

"I guess, yea. Don't really know why though."

"Today is a bi-annual review and a payday. Everyone is active and prepared to show off their best side to Otokage-sama."

He chuckled. I did a double take. He, Sensei-hardass, chuckled.

"Who knows, maybe you all shall receive your long awaited C-rank after this? If you impress him, of course."

I skipped a step but corrected myself before toppling over. Should I even ask? ...yeah... I should be on the same page as everyone else.

"Sensei... if you don't mind, what is a c-rank?"

It's probably an awkward and overly basic question... but... well at least it was an organic topic.

"The International Standardized Mission Ranking System is a table that presents an easy way to visualize both the risk and sensitivity of a mission. All D-ranks take place in the village or very close by, you should be familiar with them."

Dosu hummed in agreement. I'm sure bored of cleaning blood and delivering stuff too.

"In a logical vein, C-ranks tend to take place outside the village. They involve greater risk, of course. Following this line of reasoning, B-ranks are less dangerous than A-ranks. The only frequent exception to this rule is S-rank, as they are missions of greater political import being automatically highly classified. Even to your most trusted comrades. Ah, we have arrived."

I had wanted to ask what kind of missions he had been on before, but that was a pretty dismissive statement. The line was a bit on the long side, the building itself was pretty large with the queue trailing outside the office around a half meter. Hopefully these review things go quickly.

"Argh! Lines! I hate paperwork stuff Sensei, ya know? Can I just come back later or whatever?"

Zaku wasn't immediately cowed by Sensei's baleful glare, to his credit at least. Several tense seconds followed, and then Sensei suddenly cracked his knuckles. This, of course, had the effect of causing Zaku to fall over onto his back with a shrill yelp. I couldn't suppress my giggle at that.

"Ah, Zaku, you should be more coordinated. Perhaps we should have you start doing yoga?"

Sensei puts his hand under his chin, but any thoughtfulness is betrayed by his smirk.

"Zaku is quite silly. Who would have thought that only the cra-"

"As if!"

"Of Sensei's knuckles would make him wet himself."

Dosu is shaking with laughter, I chime in.

"It's just another #zakuthings moment guys, they happen every hour on the hour. Nothing to get too worked up over."

"_Hashu taggu-_ whaa?"

"No, I get it, it means he acts like a dumb monkey on demand. Now dance! Dance for us monkey!"

Dosu started to drag Zaku, who was kicking up an absolute fuss around by his arms in a mock dance. All the other ninja were giving us queer glances, but didn't break rank. Probably didn't want to lose their place or whatever. Sensei had a fond look on his face that quickly cooled down upon catching my line of sight.

"Kin, would you round them up? They are making a scene."

I didn't even have to say anything. I began a slow small set of hand seals. Monkey. Boar. Rabbit. Snake.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Actually saying the name really did help with the launching of the technique despite it feeling like an attack from a superhero comic. It also let Sensei and the other ninja know they weren't really in any danger. This Genjutsu is pretty basic as it simply attacks the amygdala and central nervous systems. Apparently attacking, or really _activating_, the amygdala causes the person's fight and flight response to blare at them, releasing cortisol and adrenaline.

If I were to be even more specific, this Genjutsu is a type-D or something. Meaning that its effects and are both targeted and uncontrollable. One would think that would be an issue of safety, and that person would be correct. That's why the technique also targets the nervous system; even going so far as blocking most motor controls.

The Genjutsu vision itself was just bringing up traumatic experiences, whether imagined or from actual memory, to slam into the target like a sledgehammer. But it is like a dream, the experience quickly fading after being dispelled due to the experience being entirely imagined. But if the enemy is distracted and doesn't notice...

They jump back from each other. Zaku is wide eyed and shaking. Dosu is trying to bring his hands together for a hand seal in order to disrupt the Chakra flow feeding the Genjutsu but couldn't even twitch his fingers. I bring them back to reality, a quick Snake hand seal sending another Chakra probe to their brain. Cancelling Genjutsu like that doesn't really work unless you yourself cast the illusion. But still, it was a handy little trick in this case.

"I can see you both need more practice with Genjutsu."

Sensei was beside me and had his hand on my shoulder before I could blink. I whipped my head to him, startled. His head was just level with mine and he had a lopsided smirk plastered on his face. He kinda looks handsome like this... I blush.

"Would that not be fun, Kin?"

"Of- of course, Sensei. I'd be happy to help."

I give him a weak smile, not quite over the sudden appearance just over my shoulder. Damn teenage hormones, not this shit all over again. It was terrible the last time!

-xxx-

It took a little over an hour for the procession to proceed. There were more people behind us, and the sun was already getting low when we got in line. I wonder how many people are ninjas in this village? In the world? Thousands, hundreds of thousands?

_Millions?_

Well, that might be exgatteration but the point stands, lots of people are killing each other based simply on a mutual understanding of _it's in the job description. _I won't say that kind of thing couldn't or didn't happen in my old world but it's a bit more candid here. Zaku has the word "death" painstakingly sewn onto every single one of his shirts for a reason, ya know.

"Kin, fill out your form properly please."

"Huh? What? Oh yea sorry..."

I scribble out the half of my old name. I write out 'Tsuchi Kin' carefully but quickly and hand back the report Sensei had us sign. I need to stop being so absent minde-

'Ugh.'

I straighten to get a proper look at the leader. White skin, creepy yellow snake eyes, and smooth dark hair sits across a desk with a few rather high stacks of paper to the side.

"Otokage-sama, Suzuki Kusei, Kinuta Dosu, Abumi Zaku, and Tsuchi Kin reporting progress and development. I have labelled and collated individual improvements into this folder for your personal perusal."

Sensei bows and places a thick manila folder on the desk.

"As well, I am prepared to give the full oral progress report of these genin.

"Go on, dear Suzuki-kun."

"I will begin with Abumi-san. He has, after the surgery, increased his Chakra stores by leaps and bounds. He has gotten his hand seal timing down by two seconds on most of his Ninjutsu, and I have been drilling him and the others in tree walking. He has the best Chakra control it seems."

Sensei cleared his throat.

"As for Tsuchi-san: she had a bit of an accident apparently earlier this month. It has caused havoc on her progress, but she is not trailing too far behind. Her repertoire is quickly expanding, and while being the weakest at the tree climbing exercise has shown steady progress. I recommend waiting until the end of the month to see if she can still be deployed, but there hasn't been any major trouble due to her current condition."

"I see. I see. And as for your most promising pupil?"

Sensei definitely didn't smile. But his lips did crinkle at the corners.

"Kinuta-san is doing as expected. No more, no less. He is of course the strongest physically, and the fastest to boot. I hope to see how he develops his Taijutsu style; it is rather nasty."

The Otokage took a moment, folding his hands on his desk. He eventually broke the stretched out silence with a question for _me_ out of everyone else.

"Genjutsu are rather tricky, are they not Kin?"

He cocks his head, it's a clear invitation to respond. Well, more like pulling my teeth, but the point stands.

"Yes, they are. But the flexibility suits me."

"Oh, do elaborate. I know how _exactly_ how flexible illusions can be. What makes yours special?"

"If I can manage to think of creative ways to apply it and show distracting enough stimuli it could become rather effective, especially in conjunction with my team."

"Oh? Just a mere distraction? I'm sure you can do better than that."

"Well..."

Custom Illusions can be really hard, and he won't be impressed by the rote ones. Maybe... if I bluff he won't need to do anything more.

"May I demonstrate?"

"Yes, of course. Give me your best shot."

'Damn!'

I set my hands in a Snake seal and close my eyes. I flare my Chakra. I focus on the feeling of it's languid and easy flow through my organs and skin. I open my eyes stare into the snake eyes in front of me. I send a probe and it connects.

He starts to chuckle. "Oh my, I appear to have been caught!" A tense few seconds before he says, "go on."

I start to shake and want to vomit. I have to stay strong but he is radiating a tense atmosphere, which I can clearly feel through the connection. I close my eyes and focus on Calm. Not any particular place or gentle sound, the concept of Calm. Stillness, and tranquility, are my entire being.

I send the feeling through the probe. I know he is feeling more relaxed, as I can feel a brief impression of his mental state through this raw connection.

"Hm, you'd be useful at a Hot Water Country Spa and Resort at least."

I can't take that lying down. I send a flash of raw Chakra directly to the tenkentsu near his eyes and ears. I send him the smell of a rotting corpse I found on the roadside the other day. I send him the disorientation of a small earthquake and try to focus on that and ramp it up. I stab his hand with a mental knife that is burning once, twice, three times-

"Release."

The probe releases and I shake myself, a sudden lack of prioperception as I am no longer connected. I open my eyes.

He picks up the folder.

"Thank you very much Kisei-sensei. I know teaching wasn't the first thing you wanted to do but you should only have to put up with it for now."

"Please, collect your checks. Thank you for your service to your village. Oh! Suzuki-kun, would you and your team round up some extras out East? They've been getting too rowdy lately, and I need to round up some new test subjects for a side project of mine. I'm sure your squad will be able to handle it."

He waves us off in a casual manner. We all bow and exit.

"Hm. I suppose it's not so surprising her personality changed so drastically after the procedure. Though her face is a total blank now comparatively even after I casually insulted her best point. You're an interesting little lab rat at least, Kin."

He opens up the folder to find the notes from the first weeks of my new life.

"And some interesting new ideas about weaponry, as well."

-xxx-

"You are all dismissed for the day. We have a small C-rank planned for the next few days, so come prepared for cliff-diving, camping in a forest, and the kidnapping of some undesirables to the East."

That sounds fun.

Well, it _is_ fun to learn how to become a superhero. But...

"Isn't it kind of immoral to kidnap people?"

I should have expected a slap from Sensei at worst. Instead, he roundhouse kicked me!

"If your commander tells you to gut yourself, you do it Kin. You do not have to like it, you just have to get it over with. You need to grow up."

He kicks me one more time for good measure. Guess that's my cue...

"I do not believe in murder."

That's my line not yours!

"But being a Ninja, either Shinobi or Kunoichi, means that murder is simply the job description. Do you know why I still chose to be a Ninja, despite my own moral compulsions?"

I pick myself up.

"I, well, I couldn't really begin to say... Though, it also brings up another point... Otokage-sama said that you didn't want to be a Sensei and yet here you are..."

Even as I trail off Sensei levels me with a stare that isn't hard nor soft, just an... expectation... that what he says will be understood as important.

"I will insist that you learn how to kill on this next mission. And as for being a Sensei..."

He narrows his eyes.

"It is like being a star chef and being told that you have to be a shepherd instead... like being shepherd to especially annoying and stupid sheep. That I want to kill but I am barely allowed not to."

Zaku snickers despite the seriousness conveyed by our actually deranged teacher.

"Looks like I live another day, right? Sheesh Sensei is over dramatic." Zaku has his usual superior smirk plastered over his face. Little does he know it makes him look like a constipated frog, but we humor him.

Sensei straightens up.

"You are lucky you know. I remember Rice Country when Konoha was going at it during the last war."

We keep start to walk our separate ways though we're all surprised by Dosu's quiet far away voice.

"I will kill every last one of those Konoha nin for what they did."

Or maybe just Zaku and I were surprised, we both stopped to stare at the two who exchange a brief glance.

"We have had a rough time of it, yes. Thankfully, Otokage-sama is strong and intelligent. As long as we show our unwavering commitment to our cause, the Leaf will burn. We will convene tomorrow morning at the training ground before heading out, be sure to arrive _before _sunrise _not_ during and to pack for at least two weeks. I will provide rations."

-xxx-

I close my door behind me and a subdued atmosphere overtakes the room. 'If not tomorrow, soon I'll be killing someone or be killed by them... maybe Sensei will do the deed himself. It feels like once I pass one test there's an even more difficult one right after.'

"..."

"..."

I flop onto my bed. I don't want to pack for the Field Trip of Death.

"..."

"...But Sensei would probably gut me for wasting everyone's time."

'Not like I can escape.'

I pick myself up and begin to look for things I would want in the woods. Canteen, matches, no sleeping bag... the mat and blanket will do. Kin doesn't have anything (other than rope) that would be useful for "cliff-diving".

I place some of those kunai knives, my senbon, and my new weapon on top of the objects already organized in my bag. Since I don't need to bring food... might as well bring my "light" reading.

I spy out to the velvet night sky, the Milkyway in all its glory strewn like a million dazzling crystals. Of course, they are a burning inferno reaching in the ballpark park of six thousand degrees and three billion degrees Celcius...

"It's well past dark."

I should go to sleep. I can't afford to be late.

-xxx-

My alarm blares at 03:45.

-xxx-

A/N: Next time! C-rank!?

Sorry to everyone expecting this chapter to come out yesterday, my only excuse is work has been kicking me in the teeth lately. I don't think with the new year I will be able to continue with the two week format, and will instead now be switching over to a monthly update. Next chapter will be posted on February First.

Thank you for every comment/view/follow/fave, from the bottom of my heart.


	8. 07 - Unwavering

I happened to meet up with Zaku at the designated location at the same time. The whole team assembled relatively quickly, considering the time. I was already tired and wanting to crawl back into bed. The sky was just beginning to lighten up on its bare edges.

"I would like to inspect each of your packs before we depart to ensure we are not caught unawares. I already inspected Dosu's pack before you two arrived." He holds out his hand in expectation.

Zaku grimaces, so I give Sensei my pack first.

He opens it and begins to dig around, meticulously removing each object to examine it briefly before putting it back. Somehow my pack felt a little lighter after he rearranged everything.

"Next."

Zaku begrudgingly offered his pack. Almost immediately Sensei found something wrong with it.

"I told you, I will provide rations! Cooking in the field can be dangerous by giving away your position."

Sensei throws Zaku's pans, cooking knives, and spatula on the ground. Zaku seems seriously offended. He starts to say something but just sighs and crosses his arms.

"Can I at least put them back in my room before we leave?"

Sensei takes a few seconds before answering. He turns his head to the horizon.

"Yes, but if you do not return within 5 minutes we will leave you behind."

Without acknowledging the concession Zaku hurries to gather up his utensils and dashes away.

Silence.

"So, where exactly are we going Sensei?"

"I will not brief you all twice, so wait for your teammate patiently. And quietly, if you would."

'Great. He's in an amazing mood today clearly. Does this asshole seriously get personally offended at every little annoyance in his life, or something?'

Chirpurp chirp chichi chichi...

The distant warble of a foreign species of bird... I wonder what the bird looks like, all I see are crows around here.

'Maybe there are some bird watching books around...'

The rocky terrain around us is familiar. Though I don't look forward to that rock climbing... Sensei is probably going to make us practice our Chakra training again.

I turn to attention towards our team leader. He is slouching as normal, Dosu clearly doesn't mind super early mornings...

"Sigh."

Before I know it I can hear Zaku's hard pants as he dashes back, sans cooking implements of course.

"Alright, now that we have all gathered and are properly prepared I can brief you all."

"We are going to be going deep into Hot Water Country. They used to have a small elite militia back in my day, but now it is regarded as tourists country for mostly Lightning and Fire nobility due to its multitude of hot springs."

That seems to perk Zaku up immediately. His eyes go comically wide and he punches his fist in the air.

"Sweet! A mineral bath or whatever sounds cool-"

"Do you seriously think we have time in the field to take a bath, Zaku? You are being even more moronic than usual today."

'Ouch.'

That comment causes Zaku to freeze in place and adopt a pained expression. He crosses his arms and stares at the ground.

"Sorry, Sensei."

"Let's move."

He puts on his pack then starts off in the direction of the sunrise. We follow suit.

"So, if there are a lot of nobility in the country, wouldn't there be other ninja too?"

"Asking the hardline questions as usual, Dosu. Yes there is a rotating unknown quantity of foriegn ninja mixed in with the population at any time all throughout Hot Water. But, we only need to be concerned with the roadsides and trying to root out what are merely just temporary settlements."

"Hot Water country is also known for being an ideal location for roving bands of homeless. The lax laws regarding citizenship and need for foriegn traffic... in short, the country has completely open borders so we will not have to worry about sentries."

"How long will we be traveling for, Sensei? And how would we find these, erm, "settlements"?

"We will reach the border by late afternoon, then we approach and see if it is wiser to set camp in our own borders or if it would be better to trek out for more distance today. We can shave off a few hours on the total mission time if it does not seem like there are many village affiliated Ninja."

He smiles.

"And here we are, our first real exercise on our techniques thus far."

I see a huge cliff, maybe a kilometer high, in the distance.

I gulp.

'I hope my rope is strong enough.'

"Now, this is the longest and tallest mountain in all of Rice Country, named Raimei One since it is the first in the four mountain chains that snake up before forming Lightning Country. Interesting sediment since it formed due to volcanic activity, and the border to Hot Water is one hour directly across this exceedingly long range."

"Let us get started, yes?"

-xxx-

Four hours later we get our first allotment of rations. It is a small field kit with tasteless crackers, beef jerky, and a dried fruit of some kind. Apparently Sensei prefers these over these things called "ration bars" but free food is free food and I am exhausted.

"I wish I had some sprouts to go with this..." muses Zaku.

"Yes, it is a little salty but you should not expect a lot out in the field like this. You can drink a little extra water... ah that reminds me. We should take a small break I suppose."

Even though we haven't gone very far to our destination, the hike up the cliff face was straightforward. Tie rope to Zaku, myself, then Dosu, to Sensei at his bemusement, then he re-did my knots saying that would dig into us when I fa-

'Terrifying and I don't want to go back down that mountain if it's the last thing I do.'

...Assist me in case I lost concentration on my Chakra.

Sensei sits down and pulls out an empty metal cup, then makes a hand sign. It fills with water.

"Bother me, and I will not be happy. I will return."

He disappears in a gust of wind.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think we should have taken a break as soon as we climbed up the mountain, I wish I could hav-"

"I want some quiet time too..."

Dosu mused, then proceeded to walk aways away... though I could probably shout and get his attention.

Zaku seems uncomfortable suddenly. He isn't breaking the silence...

"Pretty early morning! I wish i could have gotten more sleep in."

"Yeah and now I won't even be able to cook... ugh I have to eat crap again for almost a month."

I take a seat on a rocky outcropping.

"You really like cooking. What got you into it? Did your mother make really good lunches with you or something?"

"...No."

Zaku turns pained for a second then cools his features and closes his eyes.

"I lived on the street since I was 4, and lived off scavenging scraps from dumpsters and stealing from stalls if I was lucky not to be caught."

'Shit.'

"Ah... well... that's certainly very formidable circumstances. I'm-"

"Don't say anything like 'I wish you didn't have to go through that'. Seriously."

He sticks his hands in his pockets and leans against a boulder. His cheek is lying against the dark surface.

"I just respect Otokage-sama too much to say I didn't have to live that life to meet him. He is my salvation, Kin. I was on the verge of death and he taught me, he improved me, and now he is going to improve the world next."

'Super brainwashy...'

"Kinda tough what happened earlier, huh? At the team meeting before we started off I mean."

Zaku was surprised.

"Um, well, yeah. That stuff was pricey for my budget you kn-"

"That's not what I mean, it is kinda tough being the target all the time... huh?"

"Sensei is such a dick."

Then he stiffens and looks around nervously.

"I didn't hear anything."

I tease. He visibly relaxes then chuckles.

"Yeah... anyway, it's fine. It's better than being on the street, I just hate the torture days... he may be crabby but he's no where near the levels earlier this mo-"

"Ugh I almost forgot about that... I threw up that day."

"You up chuck way more than before, that's for sure."

We start to laugh together.

We spend the rest of our break cracking jokes.

-xxx-

The entire group travels to the edge of a long strip of mostly flat terrain, it's actually a pretty pleasant trip. I approach the edge to see shear drop that curves inward then a huge gust of wind knocks a rock and carries it off before the rock plummets even further down than the climb up.

I back away.

"And so that's why we will be tying ourselves together just as Kin did before. We did not need it the way up, but this route will be treacherous. Two small wind streams are known to converge onto this side of the mountain."

As we tie ourselves together I start breaking out into cold sweats. Zaku puts his hand on my shoulder as I am tying the rope in a "bowline" to myself.

"I'll catch you, OK?"

I manage a smile and finish the knot.

"Yeah, thanks. That helps."

Sensei takes the first step, then Zaku, I activate my Chakra cycle on my feet as I am about to step onto the surface, and Dosu trails behind me.

As we descend, little pebbles start to fall and pelt my face, which while not dangerous is annoying. I can see Sensei holding his arm up for cover as he keeps pace.

It takes a good ten minutes before I lose my concentration to a particularly sharp rock pelting me. Zaku tried to catch me but he was too slow and so I wound up being carried by Sensei and Zaku the rest of the way down.

At the foot of the mountain Sensei addresses us one more time.

"We have been going toward the border for the majority of time on the mountain, we are only thirty minutes away from official Hot Water territory. I want to scout ahead first then I will return. I will be back within two hours, then relay whether or not we can proceed today. You can do whatever you want, take a nap, I do not care just consider this a break. Absolutely no cooking!"

He glares at Zaku.

"I will leave each of you a portion of rations. Just keep yourself from wandering too far. I expect to see you all here when I return."

And without further fanfare he dashes off into the presumed direction of Hot Water country.

"He's been ditching us and leaving all day today..." Zaku muses.

"Well, as team leader, I say we spar." Dosu pipes in before Zaku could go on a rant.

'Well, not a terrible idea...'

"I'd spar, but we should keep ourselves from going too hard, you know?"

"That's obvious but I suppose verbalizing unwritten rules is a good idea. No excessive Chakra usage?"

"No way, then I can't use my abilities! And Genjutsu is super famous for people who use small amounts of Chakra."

"I don't think we should handicap ourselves... but limiting our Chakra usage is probably a good idea Zaku. We don't want to exhaust ourselves."

I'd been recently reading about the symptoms of Chakra Exhaustion in both of my books. Apparently it can range from being merely tired to completely fatal so I really would rather not risk hitting that point.

"OK, sounds like a plan then. We will spar until Sensei come back then. Now then... let's start!"

Dosu leaps forward and clocks me in the face. In the same moment, Zaku blasts Dosu off of me and begins to pepper both of us with kunai.

I focus on dodging, and trying to get distance from Dosu. When he has his back to me and seems to be changing focus from me to Zaku I start a set of hand seals.

Boar. Monkey. Snake.

"Demonic Illusion: Snake Paralysis!"

This is an edited version of the basic Demonic Hell Viewing, instead of seeing generally traumatic experiences the target believes that they are being constricted by large constrictor-type snakes. The advantage of this is that it does exactly the same thing as Demonic Hell Viewing, but instead focuses more on the paralysis portion of the technique.

Dosu is a sitting duck, and so I start to pepper him with Senbon, of which the pain causes Dosu to break from my Genjutsu.

'It may not be so sporting to focus on only Dosu over Zaku...'

I shake my head, Dosu is stronger than me or Zaku, it would only be natural to gang up on him.

By the end of one and a half hours we are panting and exhausted. We didn't fight the entire time, but we did spar several times in the internim. Despite mine and Zaku's best efforts Dosu "won" each bout handily.

By the end of two hours, Sensei still isn't back. He seriously isn't the type to be late.

We all decide as a group to give him another hour before we try to track him down. The strange thing about all this is that the mountain was supposed to be the dangerous part, not entering the peaceful tourist-trap nation.

By the time thirty minutes go by we're already planning on whether to go ahead and search for Sensei or to go back to the village. Dosu's main argument was that it is unbecoming to cut and run, essentially leaving an ally to the wolves. Zaku's argument was that he's so much stronger than us that if he wasn't able to handle something it would be suicidal to blunder into Sensei's direction.

'I can easily see them both being correct...'

"So, whaddya think Kin? Should we go forward or back?"

'I hate being pressured! I just want this mission over with already.'

"Maybe we can flip a coin? I don't really mind either way..."

"So lame! You have to choose, you can't cop out of this one choice!"

"Indeed, as if I would let the fate of my team depend solely on dumb luck."

"If it matters to you guys so much, let's just draw lots. You each get to pick one, and whoever gets the short stick gets to decide where we go next."

"That doesn't solve anything, Kin. Just pick a side so we can go to help Sensei."

"No! We shouldn't bother, if he isn't strong enough to..."

"Yes, yes, we heard it before, Zaku. But that's precisely why we are on this squad. We need to be able to depend on one another in times of hardship, at least on the mission."

"How come you can interrupt me, but anytime anyone interrupts you, you get all butthurt and pissy. Such BS, man."

'I have to stop this before it gets out of hand.'

I don't particularly like Sensei, he's a pretty hard person to like. But if I was stranded would he want to go save me?

'Probably not of his own volition. He only cares about impressing the Otokage... in his words.'

"Can we get into trouble if we leave?"

That seems to put Zaku in a desperate state.

"You... but he's such an asshole!"

"And if we failed a mission without even trying what kind of message does that send to our dear, beloved Otokage-sama? That we're cowards, or that we're lazy?"

"You're full of shit."

Well, I guess that solves that question.

"We should go forward. We don't want to bring unnecessary attention to ourselves, right?"

"Man... why can't things just go my way for once..."

I chime in and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Think, if you save Sensei, you can lord it over him."

"Whatever."

He brushes my hand away but his smirk betrays his real feelings about that idea.

"Gross. Don't touch teammates when not necessary, new team rule."

"You can't decide something like that! And when exactly is 'necessary', hm?"

"Let's just go, guys. I don't want to hear these arguments anymore, we are being so unprofessional right now."

Dosu stalks into the pine forest. We follow him, though I do note that Sensei appeared to have marked his path with a cross carved into the bark of the trees.

Sensei's path stops cold at a river.

Dosu finds Sensei's headband stashed in a tree hollow. With a note. Dosu read it aloud.

"I went ahead. You all obviously had the sense to approach when a clearly marked path is ahead of you. This is when the true test begins... basically he doesn't want to babysit us for this mission... he says he will capture 10 targets... we are expected to find 10 collective targets and detain them. Then to bring who we 'manage' to haul back here... within 3 days time."

"He seriously ditched us!?"

All three of us cry in unison.

-xxx-

The first C-Rank already hit a snag! But you could probably guess something like this was going to happen, right?


	9. 08 - Hospitality

We all stash our headbands into the tree hollow. Obviously Sensei doesn't want anything to get out about our affiliation, at least that's according to Dosu.

"We will scout out a campsite today. Then we plan the best course of action, finally today we can rest."

Zaku and I assent to that course.

"This shit is dumb, I mean, c'mon, we have to find these people all on our own? What do we do, walk in a random direction?"

"We should keep our whining to a minimum, as not to alert anyone to our presence Zaku. You wouldn't want to have your throat slit, Sensei once-"

"Sensei isn't here right now!"

Zaku storms off into the woods.

"Wait!"

I attempt to run after him but Dosu appears in front of me, blocking me from following after the rash teenager.

"Let him cool off. He won't go far, he isn't stupid."

I take a step back. I don't know if I can believe that or not, I barely know these people.

"Do you really think that?"

"How about this, if the monkey doesn't come barreling out of the treeline within 30 minutes." Dosu takes out a stopwatch, "then we go looking."

He clicks the start button.

"This mission sure is turning out to be a mess."

"Hm, indeed. Though it's much less action-packed than I anticipated."

He isn't even regarding me, just staring at the watch.

"Well, maybe the abductions will be more 'action-packed'."

"Yes, hopefully."

'Either he doesn't get sarcasm or he is willing me to be quiet.'

'Well, maybe he just doesn't care either way.'

I take out one of the books I brought with me and start to read it. I might as well get some studying done if we are to sit in stifling silence.

_Genjutsu is useful for more than just small parlor tricks that target base senses. Indeed, higher levels of Genjutsu can target specific emotional drivers. As an example, the effects of adrenaline are well documented: it essentially raises heart rate and helps to constrict blood vessels so that blood can be directed to major muscle groups and through the cardiovascular system even more quickly. But the other, more emotionally notable, effects such as a dry mouth, anxiety, and sometimes euphoria are merely the result of this chemical doing its job of keeping the animal experiencing them alive._

_How would one go about inducing adrenaline to an unwilling target, however? This question can be answered at least two different ways using only Chakra, even at a distance, dependent entirely on the caster's level of Chakra control. The first method is to use frightening or otherwise high-intensity stimuli applied as a conventional illusion, which can be flexible and effective if the right stimuli is used. The second method is to directly tap into the target's adrenal glands (located just above the kidneys in humans), but this method requires intimate knowledge of how the body is structured and can be permanently damaging if administered incorrectly. As an example, the adrenal glands also control production of cortisol, another important hormone; if a technique causes the production of this hormone to fall too low Addison Disease can occur, which overtime causes intense craving of salt, depression, high levels of fatigue, emesis and nausea, and weight loss among other troubling symptoms. This second method also has the disadvantage (as in any other Genjutsu technique) that it can be easily disrupted by someone experienced in sensing Chakra, and in fact can be turned back on the caster. Use at your own risk._

"What the hell." I whisper softly to myself. 'That's serious... well, I guess at this point I should expect this type of thing.'

Before I could get back to my reading however, Zaku came crashing out of the treeline.

"Hmm, 13 minutes. I suppose 30 minutes might have been a bit off as an estimate. I apologize, Kin."

"It's fine." I close my book and put it away sans any bookmark. "Are you feeling alright, Zaku?"

He kicks at the dirt. "Yeah I guess so, less angry I guess. I'm getting a vacation from Sensei, at the very least."

"Good. Well, for the next stop on our vacation, let's head toward the edges of a major town. Most homeless either live within the heart of city parks or in the outskirts in little shanty towns. We can find a nice enough place to camp out, then we scout out the settlement."

"You are certainly knowledgeable about these things."

Dosu chuckles slightly then finally regards me with his singular visible eye.

"That's my business."

"Alright, alright, let's just get on our way guys. The sooner we get some rest the better, right?"

"Indeed." Dosu begins walking along the river.

-xxx-

The very first thing I notice as we approach the capital, Hidden Hot Springs, is that the air is becoming increasingly humid and dense. But as they say, it's not the heat... the next thing I notice is that it seems to be structured on a suburban system. We even walked through a few of what I would consider little neighborhoods, or well, collections of houses. None of them are notable apart from one another aside that some were advertising as little bed-and-breakfast deals. We passed by at least nine advertisements within two minutes of our leisurely ninja pace.

After about an hour of following the road we three manage to stumble on a collection of homeless men by pure accident. The few dozen or so meager old men are milling about a graveyard at sunset, taking the offered alcohol and food from gravesites. We observe our potential targets from a bush in the hedgerows.

"Why don't we just grab some right away and tie 'em to a couple of trees? If we feed and water them at least once a day then we can relax for the majority of the mission. Maybe even hit up a hot spring!"

"But what if our hostages are discovered? Even if they are bound and gagged, there's still a chance of someone stumbling on them."

"Not if we tie them to a tree or have Kin keep up a Genjustu."

"I don't want to maintain a technique for _days_ at a time Zaku. I can barely manage an hour as is."

"Whimp."

"Don't you dare-"

"Let's all keep our composure here."

"Fine." I look out at one of the closer old men. He is grinning a mostly toothless grin at having found an alcohol bottle then downs it right away. Another man punches him mid-stream and starts to then drink the rest of the bottle's contents.

"So, do you guys want to stick around for the bum fights or do ya wanna get some rest already? I mean we need to be well rested if we are going to catch us some of these hobos."

"Well, you certainly are bringing up a valid point Zaku. We need to find a suitable location to hide."

"We could rent out a bed-and-breakfast if we had some cash... at least for the night."

"Man that'd be nice, a home cooked meal, a real bed... C'mon Dosu! I know you brought a little cash too, we could just have Kin own us her part!"

Dosu is glaring at us. "You seriously think we aren't extremely conspicuous people? Zaku, for example, your shirt has the word death on it. Little much for a nice old lady, wouldn't you think?"

"I can change my shirt, dude. Think about it! You could even get a room of your own."

"No, that'd be too expensive."

'A weakness!'

"I don't mind splitting the cost at all, Dosu." I give him a grin. "We deserve it for at least _one_ night right?"

Dosu turns his head to regard the homeless people, who are beginning to mill toward the horizon and to the not too distant treeline off to the west.

"Well, team leader, we can go to the trees for a few days or we can get at least one night of quality sleep at an inn."

He stares at the figures, darkening by the minute.

"Fine. We can split the cost for a room. If anyone asks I'm your brother Kin, and we are going to a healing hot spring recommended by a relative for my skin condition. Zaku, you're going to be her boyfriend... or cousin or something, I don't know. We'll have to walk a couple minutes in the direction of the capital for our cover to be believable... but we should be able to double back in time."

"Hell yeah!" Zaku pumps his fist. "Real food!"

I laugh, "Yes the bed is certainly a perk. If I'm to be honest, camping and I-"

_A man stares at me over a campfire. He looks disappointed but resigned in his expression._

I shake myself, and manage to stammer out something. He couldn't even use his other options with me-

'How do I know that!?'

"Hey, you OK?" Zaku touches my arm.

I pull back, "yeah, thanks, I'm fine. I just... It's fine." I manage to give him a smile.

"Thanks. Can we just head out?"

"Yes, let's abscond." Dosu stalks out of the bushes toward a business advertised as being owned by a young couple at the bottom of a valley.

-xxx-

"Welcome!" A young lady holding a rabbit in her hands sits at a small counter in the entrance. We all take off our shoes and place them on the communal floor shelf.

"Please, please, use these slippers! We don't want your feet getting cold, you cute kids."

She places a set of slippers, two larger and one small pair.

"I hope these are comfy! I learned how to hand crochet these from my grandmother so please consider this complementary for your first stay here. In fact, if you have these slippers any future nights, you get 10% off!"

We walk the two steps to the counter and each take a pair. I guess I should start.

"Hey these are pretty neat." I put it on my feet, it's super soft cotton.

"So, how many nights do you kiddos need? Do you have a parent with you?"

"Ah, no, our family is too busy with work you see... but anyway we were sent out here for treatment for my brother. It has something to do with the hot spring water out here. We just need the night, since we are headed into the city itself tomorrow morning."

"Oh you poor dears! Such brave young people you all are! Is he... going to be alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern. Just a particularly irritating skin condition, nothing fatal."

She gives a sigh. "Oh, where are my manners... I am Yamashita Megumi. My husband Yamashita Kiyotaka, myself, and of course little Puff here, all opened this little paradise! We have so much fun entertaining guests, oh but of course you're certainly too tired from traveling! It's awfully late you know."

Zaku pipes up, "I can pay for the night. Um... How much for one room for three?"

"Oh! Yes, well... for you three I can do 3,000 Ryo. We serve a meal for our guests between 6:00 and 8:30 in the morning. Oh, yes, here have this key. Your room is just up the stairs and two lefts down the hallway. Sleep tight!"

"Thank you for having us." We all reply, Zaku pays and I take the key.

I walk up the stairs and see a room with a window on the inside of the house. It is filled with around thirty romping rabbits.

"Oh I forgot!" Megumi shouts from the bottom of the stairs, "feel free to pet the rabbits! If you want we do sell them, but it's so hard to part with my little babies!"

Sure enough there is a sign on the door at the top of the stairs asking customers to "please wash their hands before entering the 'rabbit room'".

Dosu peers at the glass, "I can firmly say that this couple are ruthless capitalists." He has his attention glued very firmly to a particularly small and floppy eared rabbit.

Zaku snorts, "I don't care if they want to sell us stuff. Look at the rabbits all you want, I am going to our room."

"You know Dosu, we could get a team mascot here."

He spins his head around so fast that he should have gotten whiplash. "If you're serious about it, I'm serious. I have always wanted a pet, and rabbits can live up to ten years in captivity... and they are so cheap compared to a dog or cat..."

I am a bit taken aback that Dosu the 'animal lover' Team Leader thought I was being serious. "I don't think I have the time for a pet personally. But, if you got a rabbit I wouldn't stop you."

Dosu turns his head back to the glass. He huffs out, "hmph! Maybe Sensei will let me pick one up on the way back..."

I... well, he does favor Dosu but that man seems to enjoy causing misery.

"Yeah. Maybe."

-xxx-

The next morning I wake up as the light touches my face. I'm in an unfamiliar room for a brief moment. Then I see a wall hanging of a quaint garden, ink on paper, directly in my line of sight and remember that I am in an Inn for the night. I turn my head to see Zaku snoring in his sleep in the bed with me.

Dosu is already out of bed... well, no longer sleeping on his mat on the floor.

I get out of bed, stretch and yawn.

'That was certainly worth the 1,000 Ryo.'

I look at the clock, 6:11... I guess I could get some of that breakfast.

I put on an overshirt and slip on a new pair of pants before padding out of my team's room and into the hallway. It is a traditional seeming house, though the doors all have locks on them and cute little epitaphs and drawings of rabbits romping.

"This place really is going overboard with the theming... hopefully they don't serve rabbit meat."

I approach mahogany stairs, my slippers are softening the sounds of my steps as I descend. I can begin to smell the scent of... something nutty that I can't place.

As I walk into the dining area, located just off the entrance room, I see Dosu petting a rabbit with one hand and eating with chopsticks with another.

"Good morning. Did you rest well?"

He regards me before turning his attention to the rabbit. "Yes I did, and the food here is excellent. You should eat before the meat gets cold."

I sit in seiza next to him, and the rabbit wiggles out of Dosu's grasp to nuzzle its head against my lap. Dosu huffs but doesn't stop the little creature.

A few seconds after I start eating, the meal is pork and rice with egg and vegetables on the side, the lady of the house pokes her head out of the kitchen.

"Good morning sweetie!" The woman gives me a wave, "dig in! The capital is a half a day walk from here so you need your strength!"

I manage a smile, "yeah we certainly have a bit of a way to go until we reach our destination. Thank you for making the food, it looks very good."

She giggles. The matron then goes back to whatever she was doing in the kitchen. She is probably cooking more likely than not...

"What time did you want to head out?" I take my first bite of savory bliss. The pork cutlet is drenched in a sweet tasting sauce that is faintly almondy, which brings out the pork's lean quality.

"I was thinking we could at least stay for breakfast, then we can head on our way. The earlier we leave the better, but it probably won't make a big difference in the end since we have plenty of time."

Zaku walks in and plops down across from us. He seems excited and digs in without acknowledging either of us.

"Mmm!! I wonder if I could get this sauce's recipe!"

"Not a chance, cutie!" The lady yells from her kitchen.

Zaku shrugs and happily digs into the rest of his food. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

-xxx-

A/N: Thank you for reading! Apparently to stay a Japanese Ryokan (a traditional hotel essentially) it is around 15,000 to 25,000 JPY per person. 10 Ryo are worth 100 JPY. This chapter really turned out to be a fluff-fest... sorry if you were expecting gripping action.


	10. 09 - Assistance

We left for the treeline by the graveyard very soon after breakfast. The hostess even sent us off with enough leftovers for lunch.

She was a sweet lady.

"So, what's today's plan?" I hope Dosu has a way to find random people in the forest. What would a homeless person even do there living in a forest...

'Like, forage, maybe? There are probably edible berries or something around here.'

"We don't have much knowledge of proper tracking... we could have taken advantage of an opportunity yesterday but..." Dosu trails off, then he goes up to a dying pine tree and breaks off a few branches then looks at the forest floor for a few seconds. The ground is covered in needles, not much undergrowth.

He tosses the branches aside and digs into his pack.

"Did you guys remember to bring string?"

Zaku hefts his pack and dumps it out.

"Uh.. yeah. Yeah, I brought that."

I dig in my pack... canteen, matches... rope, bedding...

"No, I forgot to bring that. Though I have some rope."

Dosu sighs and digs deep into his pack. "It's alright, you can borrow my spare."

"We should be on the lookout for tents, sleeping bags, and piles of refuse. If we fan out and keep to the trees then we can easily scout out the number of marks we each need. Each of us can easily handle grabbing a couple, then we can regroup and rest. I believe that a conservative estimate would be us completing our objective by the end of the day."

A logical course of action proposed by our team leader, and assented to by Zaku and myself. We won a major concession yesterday after all.

"Alright, we meet up back here. Be sure to be careful not to mortally wound the merchandise when hunting."

And with that we each dash into the trees. Dosu and Zaku effortlessly bounce from branch to branch and through the woods, stringing along white threads. I look down at my porcelain palm then make a fist. I charge myself with Chakra and focus on my next leap, making the branch... which I wasn't able to grip with Chakra properly and instead launch myself towards another tree.

SLAM.

I fall to the forest floor, thankfully cushioning my impact and saving me from the resulting concussion. I lay there.

'Am I cut out for this?'

"Wow... Maybe we shouldn't split up? ...Hey!! Dumbsu!!"

I scramble before hefting myself up. "Oh! Hey! It's OK Zaku! I'll manage, see?"

I walk over to the offending tree and begin to walk up the surface.

"I got this!"

Slow, painful step after slow step. Zaku scrunches his face up.

"Dude, think you can manage a run?"

I start to skid down as my Chakra cycling starts to malfunction.

"Y-yeah! I can give it a shot!"

"Wait, it's fi-"

I attempt to run only to lose grip on my third stride, causing me to careen down again. This time on a not so nice and soft thorny bush. I struggle out of the thick woody plant, becoming a bloody mess. Zaku blasts the plant with an Aircutter Jutsu tearing it off the ground so that I could more easily remove the plant.

"Thanks."

He scrunches up his face again, and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, you're welcome. We gotta get stuff done. Dosu is doing this part on his own, but we can do it together."

"I appreciate the gesture Zaku but-"

"It's fine, besides I had an idea. You still have the food the inn lady gave us? Well, it'd probably be the perfect bait, right?"

"Yeah, but why didn't you bring this up with Dosu?"

He gives me a blank look, reconsidering, then deciding not to voice his opinion.

"Well he wouldn't listen anyway... Anyway! We can basically set out a nice meal, wait a little while, the person definitely notices it and when you're out here... well, you don't think twice about filling your stomach! And so we are just waiting nearby, you put a little Genjutsu on them so we can tie them up without any struggle. It's easy, right?"

"Zaku I don't know those people I can't-"

"Kin, listen to me."

He stares dead set into my eye, and grabs me by my shoulders.

"I know for a fact you can cast a pretty debilitating illusion, Dosu and I can still only barely get out of them."

"You can't chicken out here. We have to do this, no more games. This is it Kin, if you can't help this much I would rather just leave you here."

Fuck. This kid is really giving it to me. I, well...

It's just Genjutsu. No one is going to die from a Genjutsu, well... maybe a heart attack or I guess you could probably really mess up brain circuitry now that I think about it...

"Kin! Don't day dream right now! We have to do this! Are you prepared to get the mission on the way?"

"I... yes, Zaku." I shake myself from his grasp.

"I can do it."

We manage to find five homeless people relatively quickly, one of them is a bedraggled old man, and two were disheveled women with grimy female children. They are using spades to dig up some kind of root.

"Hm, they are all pretty focused." I muse to Zaku quietly, from our vantage point in the trees. "Do we even need to set bait?"

"Probably not... you think you can take out them all out with something? Focus on the adults, the kids won't get far."

"I can try... I don't know anything to knock anyone out but maybe..." I put my hands into a Snake seal. I focus on my Chakra, it's ebb and flow from my center to my extremities and back. I try to picture a soft bed, and a warm cozy fireplace. I run through the first half of the Hell Viewing Technique, but stop short. I don't need to give them a nightmare, just a gentle push.

I send out my Chakra in a tentacle that branches out and envelops the adult's heads. I try to get the kids too but anymore and I couldn't maintain enough... pressure... on the brain.

I focus on sleep, relaxation, and finding a nice place to curl up.

The two children are distressed when their guardians drop to the ground. They shake the women but before they could have a chance to check the man Zaku jumps out and wrenches one of the kids to the ground and blasts the other over with a low-power Wind technique.

I descend and grab the other little kid, she's screaming bloody murder and bawling. I was about to cast a Genjutsu on her but Zaku gags her with some cloth after he finished tying up the other little girl. I prop the three adults against each other and tie them together, making sure to gag and blindfold them.

In all, it took less than ten seconds to change these people's lives forever; of course, it really isn't for the better.

Zaku bumped me with his shoulder. "Good job."

When we return to the Graveyard Dosu is unsurprised that we managed to get five targets so quickly. He managed to get three people himself, two men and a teenage girl: each one bound, blindfolded, and gagged sitting on the ground shaking in terror.

"Well, it seems that we are nearing the completion of our mission. Only two to go..." Dosu places his hand under his chin and nods once. "We should drop off the captives at the meet up location, then we can focus our attention on the ninth and tenth targets."

"Can't we break for lunch first, I'm starved!" Zaku pipes up, eagerly taking out the box lunch.

Dosu swipes it from his hands and tutts, "work first. I'll be keeping this, monkey."

"Hey!"

Zaku lunges at the delicacy and Dosu leaps straight up and next to me.

"I am feeling a bit hungry too, monkey. But we can't afford to waste time."

Zakus crosses his arms but doesn't say anything.

I have to help out this kid.

"I think we should eat, if we maintain our strength we can probably get it down faster."

Dosu groans then says, "if I have to deal with another strong arm campaign like yesterday I will destroy the lunches. And we all know I can out physically maneuver you with my eyes closed."

"Zaku and I will take three prisoners, a man, woman, and a girl. Kin can handle the old man and the teenager. I think we can hide them with some shrubs and if we keep them sedated then they won't make any noise."

"Let's move, team Dosu."

-xxx-

We managed to find adequate cover, one of Zaku's almost went a runner but one broken leg later stopped that in its tracks.

"Kin, can you watch then while we get the rest?" Dosu unties and reties them for hunkering down rather than transport. Never enough ropes, if only there was a Chakra technique for that.

"Yeah, I can handle it."

"C'mon! Let's eat already! It's already past noon man..." Zaku whines.

Dosu sighs before handing him the confiscated food, which is promptly snatched from his grasp and into his gullet without preamble. He doesn't even use chopsticks...

"Well, I guess now is a good time for lunch." I take out the cold-but-delicious meal of salted sticky rice, steamed vegetables, and a faintly spicy chicken. I bring the chopsticks to my mouth to try the meat.

'Did she put cinnamon on chicken?'

"Dosu, are you going to join us?"

Dosu is in fact eating... a ration bar.

"I am."

'Righty-o! Not sure what I was expecting from that!'

We finish the meal in silence, but we don't have much to talk about anyway. Zaku finishes first, despite having a larger meal but the ration bars are difficult to enjoy.

Dosu finishes his bar with a drink from his canteen. Zaku says, "Hey Dosu, want to race? Whoever gets their mark here first wins."

"I already know I'll win, so I don't feel like competing but feel free to give it your best shot." He takes out his timer and tosses it to me. "Time him for me, would ya?"

"You are such an asshole..." Zakus bounds away back toward the city limits, Dosu not too far behind him.

I'm left alone again. I give the prisoners a dose of Genjutsu in turns for around 43 minutes before Dosu comes back with another person.

Zaku doesn't come back.

-xxx-


	11. 10 - Vibes

"Fuckin' asshat." Zaku flies through the trees, supported only by the occasional branch. He keeps steadily shunting Chakra through his legs to go ever quicker, paying no heed to the expense to his system. When he beats his team leader's time, he's definitely going to rub it in.

The first person Zaku comes across is a kindly elderly lady. Picking herbs and berries on the outskirts of a break in the trees. Zaku breaks into a sly smirk, he after all had come upon his target speedily.

The young ninja crouches low on the ground, being careful not to disturb the foliage. He could grab her and make a break for it, and what she had could fill his stomache! Before he has the opportunity to close in on his target Zaku suddenly feels a quick prick to the side of his neck before losing consciousness.

He awakens up a mere ten minutes later, groggily but nonetheless pissed and confused. He, the face of foolhardy belligerence, is tied to a tree and a tall man with fine cropped black hair faces the teen. He had the half-lidded lazy expression of a long-time pro, but was fat with an obvious belly protruding from his middle. He wasn't wearing a hitai-ate either.

His first instinct, while in hindsight would be a dumb move, was to _spit in this guy's face_. Yet the loogie didn't even reach the guy's shoes as all his muscles, even his damned mouth felt loose and weak! The second thought, which was more of a promise to learn a Wind Jutsu well enough that he could use without hand signs.

"Well, you certainly happen to be one unlucky little ninja."

Zaku didn't say a word. Anything he says could put his team in danger.

"Where're you from sport?"

The teenager's reply, "from nunna yo business, jerk off."

The stranger smiled in response, "well, good that you aren't a temporary mute from the toxin. You aren't alone, so please don't mind if I use you as a bargaining chip."

Zaku was going to say something to put this guy in his place. But then he only saw the man form a single hand sign before Zaku lost consciousness yet again.

-xxx-

"He could merely be taking his sweet time, correct?"

"Yes, he could, but he would be taking over an hour by now," I check Dosu's stopwatch. "There is something off about this. I doubt he would naturally have spent more than fifteen minutes over your own time. Call it gut instinct."

"But if there is someone out there, what would they even target Zaku for?"

"Let's say missing ninja, he had the appearance of a target due to his disheveled appearance-"

"OK! OK! We can go! I still think he could handle it. But what about the-"

"We have to leave the captives as is. Dosu, we have to go."

A rustling of leaves causes me to jump and Dosu to quickly get into a defensive position. A rabbit leaps out and scurries away from a fox, which pounces for the kill.

I strap on my senbon launcher. "Please lead the way, captain."

He huffs but doesn't argue further, then leaps in the direction Zaku went off. I struggle to keep pace but he makes frequent stops. My compatriot points out a random broken branch which causes him to completely change directions.

It feels like we are aimlessly going in circles before we come upon a picturesque little clearing. And Zaku was passed out and tied to a tree only 30 meters ahead of us! I attempt to run into the glade but Dosu places a hand on my shoulder.

"He isn't alone. There might be a visual Genjutsu or someone could be hiding. Zaku is obvious bait."

He casts his glance at me.

"Any suggestions, Genjutsu-user?"

Well... assuming that whoever set up the bait _didn't_ kill Zaku.

"If we break it, whoever it is now where we are. We should use a clone and see if it will draw them out of hiding."

Dosu hums with agreement, "the goal is to make sure we recover Zaku no matter to th-"

An older man with black hair flickers into existence. leaning against the single tree in the clearing.

"C'mon kids, hide and seek is over."

I snap my gaze to Dosu for the next action we should take. He doesn't make eye contact with me, instead he is intently studying the situation for a tense few seconds. Then he jumps down out of our tree.

I hesitate before following him. The man chuckles before starting, "my wife was right, you two do look strange. That hair is a bit of a hack job, don't you think?"

Wife? He's treating this situation too casually. So he either completely outclasses both of us or thinks he does. He certainly outclasses me if he can take Zaku down.

"Who are you?" I ask, Dosu is unmoving next to me. Zaku is still inert across from us. The man stands up straight.

"Before I answer that, how about you introduce yourselves first? I wasn't able to get much out of your little friend here." He draws out a kunai, "wasn't too impressed. I can tell if you lie, by the way, I have a strong earth affinity and can feel you vibrate with every heartbeat."

I begin to feel a deep seething anger bloom in my chest, hot and acrid. "I'm Kin. Who are you?"

"Dosu." My compatriot grunts out.

"Kiyotaka, I own the inn with my wife Megumi. I do believe you were a guest. Did you find the accommodations comfortable?"

We remained silent.

"Now, what business did you have with my wife, and why was your little friend here trying to jump old lady Ayame?" He crosses the few steps to be next to Zaku, never taking his eyes off us, and palms the kunai to his throat.

"I'd be careful about what you say. Wouldn't want me to slip, out of surprise of course! Don't worry, he isn't quite dead." Even though that revelation should be relieving, a sense of dread starts to press on me. I press back with my inner fire. The asshole in front of me lifts an eyebrow.

"Oh? Running into such a young Genjutsu-user... that makes me all fuzzy and nostalgic."

Dosu cuts him off. "We went to your wife's inn for lodging. Nothing more, of this I can assure you without duplicity. As for our intentions with the old woman... well, we aren't planning on killing her or anything."

'Speak for yourself, Sensei would probably make me gut the little kids and have me thank him for the favor.'

"Keep talking." His grip tightens when I take a step forward. I back off.

"...we are foriegn ninja tasked with acquiring a sample of the homeless population in this area. It was never our intention to capture an actual resident of this land."

"Where are you from?"

At that Dosu looks to me for guidance... well, apparently our village is a secret. I give an answer.

"We can't say, but we are from around Rice Country."

A pause, then, "you wouldn't happen to have an affiliation with Earth... would you?"

Dosu drops his shoulders, relaxing slightly, "no. We are not dirt ninja."

The man barks out a laugh at that, causing me to flinch and shoot a senbon into a nearby tree accidentally.

"I see. Well, I may have overreacted slightly, then. You must understand that ninja are a difficult sort to trust." He cuts Zaku loose in a single swipe, who ragdolls to the ground with a thump. I wince, hoping his neck would be fine.

The man picks up Zaku. "I will have to insist on checking over your samples. Then you both can have your little friend back."

That's... pretty darn risky to be putting it lightly. If Sensei catches us being coerced by another ninja... I nudge Dosu but he responds only with, "I know. It'll be fine. We'll have time."

I could only hope the last day will let us capture more appropriate victims.

-xxx-

We arrive back where the captives are stashed. Kiyotaka carting Zaku with his lazy pace. The man decides to let us keep most of the targets, even the children to my personal shock.

"I hope you understand, if I find evidence of you stepping foot in my inn again, well, I'll just say it won't be fun for you."

But Kiyotaka did take one of the men Dosu had captured with him, the older ninja prattling out something about the man being a drunk not a drifter. The inn keeper's husband bid us a quiet farewell with a gentle dropping of Zaku and dashing away.

I scramble over to my teammate. He's breathing, a steady rise-and-fall of his chest evident as I observe closely. I check his pulse by touching his neck... it's weak... I'd guess...

'Fuck me. I shouldn't have skipped out on my first aid classes.'

I look to the horizon, the mixed treeline mostly obscuring the sun. "We would have to set up camp soon... and Sensei could show up anytime tomorrow. And we don't quite reach our mission parameters... at least I think Zaku is stable."

Dosu hunches over the supine boy. He gives a small hum and gestures for me to take his hand. I, well, the gesture is uncharacteristic of the normally... Dosu-like behavior.

'Maybe I have him pegged wrongly.'

"Let's go, Kin, we can gather who we need before nightful."

I take his offer, being hoisted up by his weight swiftly.

Dosu shuffles through his pack, pulling out a scroll, brush, and ink. He takes a kneeling position before he makes neat, type-face perfect characters for Zaku's benefit, "in case he wakes up. We don't want to deal with a panicked monkey boy right now."

My laugh is half hearted and weary. This week has been a rollercoaster. "You don't think we could break for dinner before heading out?"

Dosu immediately answers, "I don't see why not."

We eat rations as quickly as we could before dashing out into the forest again. The dimming sunlight being our guide on the pathless forest. The forest begins to look familiar to me, not exactly what I would call a home but a quality of calm.

Before long we come upon a tent, open to the night air, a sprawled out woman smoking a cigarette inside.

-xxx-

A/N: There will be fight scenes later (yes- plural!), but I couldn't think of a plausible way for the kids to win here that wouldn't feel like a 1% shot or the enemy being _really_ _incompetent_.


	12. 11 - Blood

When I awaken to the soft chirping of birds Dosu isn't anywhere to be seen, and Zaku is still passed out on the patch of soft earth. I close my eyes and take a heavy breath.

'This is really the worst camping trip ever... if just one more thing goes wrong.'

I sigh. I take out my flask to drink but find it empty. So I crawl from my sleeping mat to go to the nearby stream, from which I take a handful of water to quench my parched throat.

'Hope I don't die of dysentery.'

The water tastes clean and slightly sulphuric, but dehydration is something I would rather not deal with today. I eat some rations and gulp down more of the river water. I feed some rations and water to the captives. The young man who struggled in his bindings spitting in my face for the trouble. Without much else to do I decide to practice my treewalking on actual trees.

After what must have been a couple hours according to the slowly rising angle of the sun Dosu returns.

"Oh." I slide down the tree by not letting my Chakra cycle release from the tree fully. "Where were you?"

He sags and turns to Zaku's supine form and completely ignores my question, "he hasn't woken up yet?"

"No. He's still breathing at least." I cross my arms over my chest. "Where were you?" I repeat my question.

He regards me with his one visible eye. "Trying to find the last target." He shrugs, "couldn't find anyone."

"Or Kiyotaka decided to warn them all off."

Dosu murmurs something noncommittal before going back to staring at Zaku. Dosu asks a quiet question, "he'll have to wake up sometime, right?"

I walk over to him and place my hand on his shoulder. He rolls his shoulders so that my hand falls away.

"Even if he doesn't, Sensei will be able to help. He knows those medical techniques. But... I am mostly worried about him beating on us."

"Yeah, Sensei does have that temper." The boy sits down next to his teammate and cards his left hand through Zaku's knotted hair. "He was my first friend, you know?"

The kid looks so vulnerable right now, as if he would break down any minute. "I was supposed to be the leader, but I let my people down." He draws his arms over his knees in a defensive posture. I sit down next to him.

"I don't think it is entirely your fault." Dosu remains silent.

"You never had an example to follow, so of course you wouldn't know how to do what you need to do. Sensei, well, he isn't a very good leader, I think."

"Abandoning three teenagers in the woods like this? That's just irresponsible." I give him a lopsided smile, "you can't take all the blame, Dosu, even if you made some mistakes."

His single eye narrows, "I'm not asking to shift blame here. I am the leader, it was up to me-"

"I'm not shifting blame. You can blame yourself all you want, but from my perspective you did the best you could with what you had. So there!"

He doesn't say anything to that. Dosu shifts his gaze back to Zaku. "Do you think Sensei would understand?" He asks in a whisper.

"Dosu. You are the favorite student, or maybe the one he dislikes least. If he is going to be lenient on anyone here, it's going to be you."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Still, it's the truth of it."

Dosu and I sit quietly together until before noon. Then Sensei finally arrives. Sensei has a train of ragged homeless people. As soon as he sees Zaku on the ground next to us he drags his hand down his face and groans.

"I see it was entirely a mistake to assume that you could handle yourselves without my supervision."

Dosu and I rise from the ground but stay silent.

He is silent as he ties his prisoners to the surrounding trees. But a sense of irritation is palpably emanating from him. After his work is done he kneels over Zaku and his hands glow with that pale green light.

He is fast in his diagnosis, "the paralytic he was administered should have worn off by now. He needs motivation, that is all."

Sensei rifles through his pack and pulls out a small paper capsule. "It is ammonium carbonate, or more colloquially known as smelling salts." He breaks the paper in half under his nose which causes Zaku to jump up immediately and paws at his nose.

"What the fuck!?" He sneezes.

"Welcome back from the land of nod, little troglodyte."

Zaku stiffens at the words and scrambles to his feet. He fixes his gaze to the ground.

"So. What did you do to land yourself in this position, little sheep?" Sensei regards me with his half-lidded gaze.

'Guess I gotta explain.' I pinch the bridge of my nose then explain the exciting story, beginning with us staying at the inn. By the end of my explanation of events Sensei looks like he wants to murder me.

"This is not the kind of mess I like to clean up." He spits out, "you are so unsatisfactory it almost is comical. You do realize we have to tie up loose ends right?"

Dosu speaks, "what do you propose, Sensei?"

"We are going to pay a visit to this Kiyotaka. We are going to kill everyone in that inn, and we are going to bring him back with us."

That's... confusing. I wouldn't think he would want to kill them all. Sensei answers my unasked question.

"We are going to frame him, and we are going to present him as a gift to our esteemed Orochimaru. His seismic sense is a very rare ability that could prove a useful piece to his plans. Once he is re-trained, of course."

"As well," he continues. "You revealed too much information about the location of our _hidden_ village. That location being secret is of the _highest_ importance to the plan."

-xxx-

Sensei insisted on attacking at the dead of night with the moon high in the sky. As we draw ever nearer Sensei takes his time checking the foliage and road for any seals that might alert the missing-nin.

"A key mistake many shinobi and kunoichi make is not learning even the basics of how to make a seal. One does not need to become a seal master. Only become proficient in a storage seal and a way to relay information at a distance." Sensei sneers. "I would have expected better from you, Dosu. You were very lucky this man is incompetent. We will be learning the basics when we return."

Dosu takes the comment like a punch to the gut by audibly wincing. Sensei doesn't comment.

As we come upon the inn only a single light is lit. It's where the dining area would be.

"If that invisibility technique is the one I am thinking about then he will have to step slowly or he will shimmer. You will strike first, Kin. Lead him out with a Genjutsu. I need a clear shot if I am to incapacitate and not kill."

That, well, it makes me nervous. If Sensei is too slow I...

I gulp. "Yes, sir."

He nods. "Zaku, Dosu, you both will go into the house and bring out any person staying at this quaint hovel. Do not kill."

Zaku and Dosu nod in unison.

"Go."

-xxx-

I sit in the dining room with the kunai that I hid from my wife. Those kids probably had a Sensei, so if I killed them...

But now they know where I live.

I extend my senses out, my wife is sleeping in our room, the two guests are each in their room. Ugh, one of them is 'having fun' with himself. I cut off my sense by retracting the Chakra I infused through the building. "I'll have to wash that bedding tomorrow. Eugh."

The Earth military was fun and I was respected. My orders... the terrorist cell... we destroyed a lot of the farms in the Northern half of Fire. Megumi was a radiant girl, I couldn't help my heart. I got in so much trouble for refusing to destroy her family farm.

I chuckle softly.

I wanted to take her with me to Earth when I was done with my deployment. I asked her so many times to leave for Earth, but she always would give me that small smile and tell me, _"why not follow me? I think we'd be happier."_

She was right of course. She is right.

She would always hide my Hitai-ate after I spent the night with her. She claimed that she just wanted to clean up my "ratty headband", but I knew she was hoping I would forget about it.

She convinced me to elope on a beautiful and romantic night. We were in the forest near her home when she gave me that ultimatum. I was carrying her as she clung to my chest.

_"It's me, or the Tsuchikage. You can't love us both."_

She saved me from being deployed against the Yellow Flash. One thousand men and women were cut down in an instant. The Earth military lost nearly all the sensors, and three entire clans. Only one other seismic sensor survives in Earth as he was never deployed, and he developed a mysterious disease that randomly causes him to lose focus on his Chakra.

Megumi wanted to travel and she chose this country for us. We didn't have much money, so I had to run odd jobs and she had to sell candy on the roadside. Eventually, though, we bought this run down old building and fixed it up.

It was all so much fun.

I sigh.

These kids weren't the first ninja we served, but they were the youngest. I served Earth ninja even, but there was no one old enough to remember my face, of course. All of my comrades died that day.

My heart clenches in my chest at the thought.

This country has made me soft.

The old me wouldn't have hesitated to kill the children. It would have been the proper course, but if Megumi found out... that sad face would be too much for me. The foolish naivete of a civilian.

But I love her because of that view.

I begin to feel hot and unsettled so I jump up. Extending my Chakra sense out... the guy finished and is sleeping in his mess, _gross_. My beautiful wife is sleeping, the other guy as well. I extend my sense outside... no one. Wait!

I narrow my eyes and disrupt my Chakra flow. Instantly, I feel more calm. The little bitch wants to party it seems.

Padding to my door I open it to see nothing out of the ordinary in my immediate field of view. I know where she is though, so I walk to my window to see the teenager leaning against the building.

"That wasn't very nice, little girl."

-xxx-

Kiyotaka catches me red handed pretty much immediately after I feel my technique cut out. He makes a single hand sign then disappears immediately after saying something I didn't quite catch.

I run across the open field in an attempt to make the treeline. But a single kunai pierces my back and causes me to stumble and fall forward. As I struggle to right myself on the ground I see my teammates slip into the inn out of the corner of my vision.

'Why am I the distraction!?'

Sensei still hasn't made a move to help me, so he's probably getting his joll-

I see a brief shimmer before being kicked in the stomach which causes me to curl into myself. The pain blooms and before I can so much as cough another swift kick to my face has me seeing stars.

As I clutch at my now bleeding face a hand grabs my throat and squee-

'AIR. I NEED AIR.'

I try to pry the hands off by scratching and kicking but it is to no avail.

'I can't die. PLEASE! ANYONE!'

I try to scream but the crushing grip stops any sound from escaping my lips.

A blissful breath of air fills my lungs moments later as Sensei has the invisible man trapped in his arms. I'm sure it's a mighty battle but I am too focused on air sweet, sweet air.

We all gathered in the entryway after I was able to stumble again.

By the end of the fighting we had a knocked out missing nin, and three hostages to dispose. At least that was Sensei's opinion on the matter.

"We have to make it look like the man snapped... hmm." Sensei walks over to the man's wife and immediately starts to punch her face. The sweet lady looks so terrified and helpless. I feel my soul die a little inside at her treatment.

"Kin, right now is a good time as any other. Finish her off so we can be on our way." He tosses the lady at my feet then he starts his own bloody work on the two men.

He wants me to...

"There's no-"

"Finish that sentence and see what happens," Sensei sends me a dirty glance before hacking away at the other poor man.

I gulp then take out one of the kunai and grip it tightly in my hand. The kindly woman looks me straight in the eyes and mouths, "no."

I can't help the tears that start to gather in my eyes as I lean down to her neck. I want to say 'I'm sorry,' but the words get stuck in my mouth as if full to the brim with cotton. I place the sharp edge to her neck and hear a squeal sharp and short right before I feel warm blood splatter my face.

I drop my kunai as if it burns then run away.

I run all the way past the quaint garden and to the forest. Before I break the treeline, however, a person catches me by my arm. I panic and start to lash out by kicking and swinging wildly at the assailant but I'm swiftly pinned to the ground.

"Kin, come one now. It's not so bad after the first time, no need to be a drama queen."

I hear Dosu's voice but it doesn't register as a person I'm familiar. It sounds like static as the tears start to fall and my body quakes.

Dosu releases me and I stay curled on the ground. He huffs before stating, "Sensei needs our help. Can't you do this at a better time?"

I freeze at that statement. I can't say what I'm dying to: 'I don't even belong here! This is all some cosmic folly! I am a modern man trapped in a girl's body and I don't. I don't...'

"I don't- I don't want to be a ninja." I manage to stammer out.

"It's a little late for that decision Kin, would you rather be a missing ninja like our Kiyotaka?"

-xxx-

A/N: The only excuse for the late upload is that this is a screwy world.


End file.
